Effectiveness of Psychotherapy

Effectiveness of psychotherapy. Introduction

With a range of psychotherapy approaches available, the question emerges: Which one works best? The answer to that question is that it is somewhat surprising. It seems that most psychotherapies are equally effective. This may seem strange because these approaches often differ significantly in their: beliefs about human nature, views on the cause of psychological problems, and treatment methods. This leads to a critical question: What are the shared ingredients that make these diverse therapies effective?

What defines effectiveness of psychotherapy

Before delving into the common factors that contribute to psychotherapy’s success, it’s crucial to understand the remarkable effectiveness of psychotherapy. Research underscores several key factors contributing to successful treatment with psychotherapy:

Effectiveness

Psychotherapy yields results surpassing many medical interventions, including flu vaccines and some cardiology treatments, often without the side effects associated with medication. Moreover, psychotherapy produces longer-lasting effects than medication, with lower relapse rates.

Common Factors

Several factors, such as the therapeutic relationship, empathy, patient expectations, psychoeducation, and other “common factors,” significantly impact therapy outcomes.

Client Cantered Monitoring

Regularly informing both the therapist and the client about progress improves the quality of psychotherapy and reduces the likelihood of treatment failure for patients not making expected progress.

Flexibility and Adherence

Adherence to treatment protocols is not linked to better outcomes. Instead, therapists who flexibly tailor treatment to each client tend to achieve the best results.

Structured Treatment

Therapies that incorporate structured actions directed at the client’s problems tend to be more effective than non-structured approaches.

Three essential components for effective psychotherapies

Several research overviews highlight three fundamental elements common to all effective psychotherapies:

1. Positive Relationships:

A strong, emotionally charged bond between the psychotherapist and patient is a common factor among all effective therapies.

2. Compelling Rationales:

Each successful therapy provides patients with a psychologically grounded and culturally contextualised explanation for their emotional distress. This explanation must be adaptive, offering viable and believable solutions to specific problems.

3. Targeted Change:

Effective therapies incorporate procedures and rituals that guide patients to enact positive, helpful, or adaptive actions.

The Essence of Effectiveness

To truly understand the concept of effective change, it’s important to grasp what it entails. The central message of the book “Unifying Effective Psychotherapies: Tracing the Process of Change” (Fraser, 2018) emphasises that change in all successful therapies revolves around shifting or reversing problematic patterns. These patterns are often described as vicious cycles of attempted solutions that only exacerbate the initial problem. These solutions, though they may seem logical, invariably fail to resolve the issue.

Qualities needed for success

Embracing change within psychotherapy can be daunting, as it often means stepping away from familiar patterns. To facilitate effective change, three key qualities must be present:

A Trusted Guide: A therapist who establishes a trusted and empathetic connection with the patient, offering support throughout the therapeutic journey. This element alone can influence positive change substantially.
A Compelling Explanation: A clear, understandable explanation for the patient’s problems that makes sense to them and offers a rationale and related tasks for resolution. The chosen explanation must resonate with the patient for therapy to succeed.
A Clear Target for Change: Effective therapies pinpoint the need to reverse persistent, detrimental solution patterns. Once the cycle is disrupted, change can gain momentum and flourish. Without this focus on pattern reversal, no therapy is likely to succeed.