Looking back, looking forward: A historical reflection on psychotherapy process research

Abstract

In 1983, a group of 14 prominent psychotherapy process researchers attended a workshop sponsored by the US National Institute of Mental Health. Although the previous decade had seen a marked emphasis on psychotherapy outcome research, there had also been several major advances in the field of process research. The goals of the workshop were to review the current state of the field, address methodological and conceptual issues, and provide recommendations to advance scholarship in this area. In this paper, we summarize the major themes of the workshop and consider the degree to which its recommendations have come to fruition via subsequent developments in the field. Although 30 years have passed since the workshop was held, its insights remain highly relevant to psychotherapy process research today.

Keywords:

• psychotherapy process research
• history of psychotherapy research
• psychotherapy research methods

Notes

1 Her efforts were supported by John Docherty, the current Branch Chief of NIMH's Psychosocial Treatments Branch, and Morris Parloff, the recently retired Branch Chief.

2 Another invitee, Enrico Jones, was also unable to attend.

3 For example, all of the TDCRP's audiotapes and videotapes have been destroyed.

4 This observation was made by an anonymous reviewer, to whom we are grateful.