Doing Research on the Effectiveness of Psychotherapy and Psychotherapy Training: A person-centered/experiential perspective
Forschung zur Effektivität von Psychotherapie und Psychotherapietraining: Eine Personzentrierte/Experienzielle Perspektive
Investigar sobre la eficacia de la psicoterapia y de la formación en psicoterapia: una perspectiva centrada en la persona /experiencial
Published: Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, Volume 5, Number 2
Authors
Robert Elliott (University of Toledo, Ohio) and Alberto Zucconi (University of Siena)
Author note. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at meetings of the Congress of the Istituto dell’Approccio Centrato sulla Persona, Rome, Italy, and the Society for Psychotherapy Research, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Montreal, Canada, and Toledo, Ohio. We are grateful to Germain Lietaer, David Orlinsky, Louis Castonguay, and others for helpful suggestions and encouragement. Address correspondence to Robert Elliott, Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 USA. E-mail: Robert.Elliott@utoledo.edu.
Abstract.
In this article, we present a framework for selecting instruments for evaluating psychotherapy and psychotherapy training from a person-centered and experiential psychotherapy (PCEP) perspective. The protocol is divided into eight therapy measurement domains, consisting of four research themes (therapy outcome, therapy process, client predictors, training outcome) and two levels (general/pan-theoretical concepts vs. treatment specific/PCEP-oriented concepts). This research protocol provides recommendations about what to measure, encouraging collaboration across different training sites, while still allowing flexibility for individual centers. Minimum and systematic case study data collection designs are described: Minimum designs are appropriate for use in private practice settings with one’s own clients; systematic case-study designs can be used for student casepresentation requirements or for publication. The framework and research protocols described are part of an emerging international research project involving private and public training centers in several countries.
Zusammenfassung.
Mit diesem Artikel stellen wir ein Raster vor, mit dessen Hilfe man Instrumente für die Evaluation von Psychotherapie und Psychotherapieausbildung aus der Perspektive Personzentrierter und Experienzieller Psychotherapie (PCEP) Perspektive selektionieren kann. Das Protokoll ist in acht Messbereiche für Therapie gegliedert und enthält vier Forschungsthemen (Therapie-Outcome, Therapieprozess, Klientenprädiktoren, Ausbildungs-Outcome) und zwei Ebenen (allgemeine/ theorieübergreifende Konzepte versus behandlungsspezifische/PCEP-orientierte Konzepte). Dieses Forschungsprotokoll gibt Empfehlungen dazu, was zu messen ist, ermutigt zur Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Ausbildungszentren und gestattet dennoch Flexibilität für die einzelnen Zentren. Minimale und systematische Designs zur Sammlung von Daten aus Fallstudien werden beschrieben: Minimale Designs sind für die Verwendung im Setting einer privaten Praxis mit den eigenen Klienten geeignet; systematische Fallstudien-Designs können für die Erfordernisse von Falldarstellungen von Studierenden oder für Publikationen verwendet werden. Die beschriebenen Raster und Forschungsprotokolle sind Teil eines internationalen Forschungsprojektes, das in Entwicklung ist, und an dem private und öffentliche Ausbildungszentren verschiedener Länder beteiligt sind.
Resumen.
En este artículo, presentamos un marco para la selección de instrumentos para evaluar a la psicoterapia y a la formación en psicoterapia desde una perspectiva de la psicoterapia centrada en la persona y experiencial (PCPE). El protocolo se divide en ocho dominios de medición de la terapia, los cuales consisten en cuatro temas vinculados a la investigación (resultado de la terapia, proceso de la terapia, elementos predictivos de los consultantes, resultado de la formación) y dos niveles (conceptos generales/panteóricos vs. conceptos orientados a la PCEP/de tratamiento específico). Este protocolo de investigación provee recomendaciones sobre qué medir, alentando la colaboración entre los distintos sitios que ofrecen formación, al mismo tiempo que permitiendo flexibilidad para los sitios individuales. Se describen diseños de compilación de datos, mínimos y de estudios de caso sistemáticos: los diseños mínimos resultan apropiados para ser usados por terapeutas con sus propios consultantes en contextos de práctica privada; los diseños de estudios de caso sistemáticos pueden ser usados para responder a los requisitos de presentaciones de estudios de caso o para publicaciones. El marco y los protocolos de investigación descriptos son parte de un emergente proyecto de investigación internacional que involucra a centros de formación públicos en varios países.
Key Words: Research, training, person-centered therapy, experiential therapy
Our purpose here is to encourage practice-based research on person-centered and experiential psychotherapies and to provide some guidance for doing so. Such research can have political, scientific, practical, and ethical goals: to maintain and further our place in the health care provision field; to learn more about the effects and change processes in our therapies; and to improve our ability to help our clients. The last mentioned is important for both practical and ethical reasons, since as therapists or counselors we are benefited by improving our knowledge and skills, and are also obligated to do so for the benefit of our clients. When therapists in our tradition — at least in North America — largely turned away from research in the 1960s, the result was serious harm to our approaches, the consequences of which we continue to live with to the present day (Lietaer, 1990). In Rogers’ case, it was understandable that he left academia and research, as he had already made many important contributions in his long career as an academic and researcher (Kirschenbaum, 1979), but unfortunately many others followed his example.
Over the past 15 years, several writers have looked carefully at the existing research literature on our therapies (e.g., Barrett-Lennard, 1998; Bozarth, Zimring & Tausch, 2001; Greenberg, Elliott & Lietaer, 1994; Elliott, 2002b; Lietaer, 1990), pointing to the strength of the research evidence and often arguing that the key to maintaining and increasing the recognition of person-centered and experiential therapies in the current political–historical moment is for us to carry out research on these therapies using a variety of methods, including both quantitative clinical trials and qualitative or exploratory research. The moment is ripe for this for several reasons. First, accrediting bodies, insurance companies and governments are increasingly calling for accountability in therapy practice and training. Second, exciting developments in research methodology are opening up new possibilities. Third, an international project on the effectiveness of psychotherapy and training has been initiated and can also provide opportunities for members of our tradition to take a leadership role in practice-based research involving collaboration by therapy trainers in several theoretical orientations.
In this article, we will begin by making a case for practice-based psychotherapy research, then we will describe an organizational vehicle for encouraging collaborative practice-based research. This will set the stage for our main focus: a presentation of a research framework and protocols for studying person-centered and experiential psychotherapies. We will conclude with a discussion of recent methodological developments that promise to enhance this research and a list of suggestions for getting involved in therapy research collaborations.
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