The great profusion that currently exists in psychology of theoretical schools and therapeutic techniques associated with such schools makes it necessary to review to what extent this flow of treatments is justified in the field of modern psychology. Together with the growing demand for psychotherapeutic care, all this requires checking the degree of efficacy of the different psychological treatments and determining the main active elements that define effective psychotherapy.
In psychotherapy research, there has been a proliferation of studies that have analyzed the impact of the different factors involved in the therapeutic process. It has led to the establishment of different taxonomies that have attempted to categorize and structure the active ingredients in psychotherapy. The classic division distinguishes between specific factors, mainly associated with the techniques or procedures used, and common factors -present in all or most psychological treatments- related to the variables of the patient, the therapist, and the interaction between the two -therapeutic alliance-. There is a broad consensus in attributing to these non-specific factors the major responsibility for change. However, it remains to be clarified how they are dynamized and integrated within the psychotherapeutic process.
An issue to consider when dealing with psychotherapeutic research is its limited impact on clinical practice. It would be interesting to know whether psychotherapists accept the study results or continue to hold on to the assumptions of their theoretical current. Likewise, it would be necessary to determine what elements therapists attribute to the success of the therapies they perform and whether these coincide with those indicated by research in psychotherapy.
Going deeper into this area of study would make it possible to establish the basis of an explanatory and integrative model of the mechanisms of therapeutic change, which successfully incorporates and reconciles the knowledge obtained from the different existing theories on the cure promoted by psychotherapy. A knowledge that would revert to a social benefit, as long as psychotherapists are aware of it and incorporate it into their practice. This connection between research and practice is essential and concerns all those involved in the development of psychotherapy. The ultimate benefit will be, in any case, for the patient, who deserves the best possible service.
Themes to be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:
- To verify the degree of effectiveness of the psychological treatments.
- Examine the elements that make psychotherapy effective.
- Determine the value of common factors in the efficacy of psychotherapy versus specific factors.
- To understand how non-specific factors are dynamic within the psychotherapy process.
- To find out to what elements therapists attribute the success of the therapies they perform.
- To know if psychotherapists assume the results of psychotherapeutic research.
- To establish the basis for an integrative explanatory model of the mechanisms of therapeutic change.
ARTICLE TYPES
- Original Research
- Systematic Review
- Methods
- Review
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Perspective
The great profusion that currently exists in psychology of theoretical schools and therapeutic techniques associated with such schools makes it necessary to review to what extent this flow of treatments is justified in the field of modern psychology. Together with the growing demand for psychotherapeutic care, all this requires checking the degree of efficacy of the different psychological treatments and determining the main active elements that define effective psychotherapy.
In psychotherapy research, there has been a proliferation of studies that have analyzed the impact of the different factors involved in the therapeutic process. It has led to the establishment of different taxonomies that have attempted to categorize and structure the active ingredients in psychotherapy. The classic division distinguishes between specific factors, mainly associated with the techniques or procedures used, and common factors -present in all or most psychological treatments- related to the variables of the patient, the therapist, and the interaction between the two -therapeutic alliance-. There is a broad consensus in attributing to these non-specific factors the major responsibility for change. However, it remains to be clarified how they are dynamized and integrated within the psychotherapeutic process.
An issue to consider when dealing with psychotherapeutic research is its limited impact on clinical practice. It would be interesting to know whether psychotherapists accept the study results or continue to hold on to the assumptions of their theoretical current. Likewise, it would be necessary to determine what elements therapists attribute to the success of the therapies they perform and whether these coincide with those indicated by research in psychotherapy.
Going deeper into this area of study would make it possible to establish the basis of an explanatory and integrative model of the mechanisms of therapeutic change, which successfully incorporates and reconciles the knowledge obtained from the different existing theories on the cure promoted by psychotherapy. A knowledge that would revert to a social benefit, as long as psychotherapists are aware of it and incorporate it into their practice. This connection between research and practice is essential and concerns all those involved in the development of psychotherapy. The ultimate benefit will be, in any case, for the patient, who deserves the best possible service.
Themes to be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:
- To verify the degree of effectiveness of the psychological treatments.
- Examine the elements that make psychotherapy effective.
- Determine the value of common factors in the efficacy of psychotherapy versus specific factors.
- To understand how non-specific factors are dynamic within the psychotherapy process.
- To find out to what elements therapists attribute the success of the therapies they perform.
- To know if psychotherapists assume the results of psychotherapeutic research.
- To establish the basis for an integrative explanatory model of the mechanisms of therapeutic change.
ARTICLE TYPES
- Original Research
- Systematic Review
- Methods
- Review
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Perspective
