THIS DOI METADATA WAS LAST UPDATED: 2025-06-26 08:58
Full Title
PNEI REVIEW
Publisher
FrancoAngeli
ISSN
2532-6147 (Printed Journal)
2532-2826 (Online Journal)
Journal Issue Number
1
Journal Issue Designation
1
Journal Issue Date
2025
Full Title
The problem of validation of psychotherapy
By (author)
First Page
1
Last Page
19
Language of text
English
Publication Date
2025/02
Copyright
2025 FrancoAngeli srl
Main description
Some issues concerning the problem of efficacy of psychotherapy are reviewed and discussed. The difference between clinical research and empirical research is examined, also with some philosophical considerations. Clinical research and empirical research are very different: the former is conducted by the psychotherapist in the daily work with patients, while the latter is performed in the experimental laboratory. It is then discussed whether replicability, which is a central characteristic of the scientific method, is possible in psychotherapy. An overview of the history of the psychotherapy research movement is then traced: a first phase has been mainly dedicated to outcome research, while a second phase concerns mostly process research. Finally, some recent research on the efficacy of psychoanalysis is summarized, where it increasingly emerges that psychoanalysis and dynamic psychotherapy are not inferior, but sometimes even superior, to cognitive-behavioral therapy.
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