Choosing Your
Psychotherapist
By: Lindsey Berman
Background
Does psychotherapy work? Which type of therapy
should I choose? Do some work better than others?
Mary Lee Smith and Gene Glass
Goals:
To identify and collect all studies that tested the effects
of counseling and psychotherapy
To determine the magnitude of the effect of therapy in
each study
To compare the effects of different types of therapy.
Method
375 different studies from 1000 magazines, journals, and
books that tested counseling and psychotherapy effects.
Each had one group who received therapy and one control
group.
Meta-analysis
Most important to include was the effect of therapy
833 effect sizes
25000 subjects combined
Average age: 22
Average time: 17 hours
Average therapist experience: 3.5 years
Results (Does therapy work?)
Average subject that received therapy was better off
than 75% of the untreated subjects.
Therapy moved average subject from the 50th percentile
to 75th percentile
Only 99/833 (12%) of the effect sizes had negative
results
Results (How does therapy
work for different results? )
Results (Which type of therapy
works best?)
Results (Behavior superclass
vs. non-behavioral)
Split into two “superclasses”
Compared the two control groups
No differences between the two
Significance
The study was “a step in the right direction toward
solving the problem” that people do not have enough
knowledge of therapy.
Less confusing for clients, more confusing for
therapists.
Recent Applications
Meta-analysis for 48 different studies on depression and
group therapy
Those who received therapy improved 85% percent more
than those who don’t.
Behavioral treatments for people suffering from migraine
and tension headache problems.
30 - 50% reduction in the headaches with the behavioral
strategies.
Psychotherapy for the mentally retarded.