Cited by 1,608Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsMental Health Treatment and AccessCounseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics

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The effectiveness of psychotherapy: the Consumer Reports study

Seligman, Martin E. P.·1995·American Psychologist

DOI 10.1037/0003-066x.50.12.965

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Abstract

Consumer Reports (1995, November) published an article which concluded that patients benefited very substantially from psychotherapy, that long-term treatment did considerably better than short-term treatment, and that psychotherapy alone did not differ in effectiveness from medication plus psychotherapy. Furthermore, no specific modality of psychotherapy did better than any other for any disorder; psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers did not differ in their effectiveness as treaters; and all did better than marriage counselors and long-term family doctoring. Patients whose length of therapy or choice of therapist was limited by insurance or managed care did worse. The methodological virtues and drawbacks of this large-scale survey are examined and contrasted with the more traditional efficacy study, in which patients are randomized into a manualized, fixed duration treatment or into control groups. I conclude that the Consumer Reports survey complements the efficacy method, and that the best features of these two methods can be combined into a more ideal method that will best provide empirical validation of psychotherapy.

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Meta‐analysis of the effects of cognitive‐behavioral therapy for binge‐eating–type disorders on abstinence rates in nonrandomized effectiveness studies: Comparable outcomes to randomized, controlled trials?
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“Although RCTs are crucial for determining the efficacy of CBT (Wade, Johnson, & Byrne, 2018), critics have raised concerns that the methods used to optimize experimental control in RCTs compromise the external validity and generalizability of study findings (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
Characteristics of Assaultive Psychiatric Patients: Fifteen-Year Analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP)
Flannery, R. B., Juliano, J., Cronin, S., et al. (2006) · Psychiatric Quarterly · doi:10.1007/s11126-006-9011-1 · Cited by 43
“The second group of scholars [22] supports the use of crisis intervention procedures, cites a series of cross-sectional research studies as support, and advocates Seligman’s call for onsite, field research rather than randomized controlled designs [23].”
Background
Empirical evidence for the efficacy of psychoanalytic psychotherapies and psychoanalysis: An overview
Doidge, N. (1997) · Psychoanalytic Inquiry · doi:10.1080/07351699709534161 · Cited by 46
What you believe is what you want: modeling PTSD-related treatment preferences for sertraline or prolonged exposure
Zoellner, L. A., Feeny, N. C., & Bittinger, J. N. (2009) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2009.06.001 · Cited by 42
“Clients in routine clinical practice often see a treatment provider after active shopping for a type of treatment (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
Clinical judgements: Research and practice
Bell, I., & Mellor, D. J. (2009) · Australian Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00050060802550023 · Cited by 46
Power and measures of effect size in analysis of variance with fixed versus random nested factors.
Siemer, M., & Joormann, J. (2003) · Psychological methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.8.4.497 · Cited by 43
Effectiveness of cognitive therapy with coping training for persistent auditory hallucinations a retrospective study of attenders of a psychiatric out‐patient department
Jenner, J. A., van de Willige, G., & Wiersma, D. (1998) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb10103.x · Cited by 42
Right‐Wing Authoritarianism, Attitude Salience, and Beliefs about Matters of Fact
Mirels, H. L., & Dean, J. B. (2006) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00540.x · Cited by 41
“50 87% (Seligman, 1995) 39.”
Acceptability and Efficacy of Group Behavioral Activation for Depression Among Adults: A Meta-Analysis
Simmonds‐Buckley, M., Kellett, S., & Waller, G. (2019) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2019.01.003 · Cited by 41
“The internally valid conditions of an RCT (e.g. patient exclusion, therapist supervision and treatment fidelity) differ widely from the externally valid conditions of routine practice (e.g., the comorbidity of typical patient populations; Seligman, 1995).”
Background
Predictors of Psychotherapeutic Benefit of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients: The Effects of Sexual Orientation Matching and Other Factors.
Jones, M. A., Botsko, M., & Gorman, B. S. (2003) · Psychotherapy · doi:10.1037/0033-3204.40.4.289 · Cited by 41
Specific Techniques Vs. Common Factors? Psychotherapy Integration and its Role in Ethical Practice
Brown, J. (2015) · American Journal of Psychotherapy · doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2015.69.3.301 · Cited by 43
Distinction, limites et complémentarité des recherches d’efficacité potentielle et d’efficacité réelle : nouvelles perspectives pour la recherche en psychothérapie
Thurin, J.-M., & Briffault, X. (2006) · L Encéphale · doi:10.1016/s0013-7006(06)76181-4 · Cited by 40
Participant Autonomy in Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy: An Integration of Self-Determination and Cognitive Behavioral Theories
Dwyer, L., Hornsey, M. J., Smith, L. G. E., Oei, T. P. S., & Dingle, G. A. (2011) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2011.30.1.24 · Cited by 40
“samples (Chambless et al., 1998; Seligman, 1995).”
Efficacy in evidence‐based practice
Bower, P. (2003) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.380 · Cited by 43
Is three a crowd? Clients, clinicians, and managed care.
Cohen, J., Marecek, J., & Gillham, J. E. (2006) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/0002-9432.76.2.251 · Cited by 38
“At least one study has found that clients whose choice of therapist was limited by a managed care company reported less progress in treatment (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
The Chain of Relationships Among Gratitude, Prosocial Behavior and Elementary School Students’ School Satisfaction: The Role of School Affect
Tian, L., Chu, S., & Huebner, E. S. (2015) · Child Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s12187-015-9318-2 · Cited by 45
How practitioners (and others) can make scientifically viable contributions to clinical-outcome research using the single-case time-series design
Borckardt, J. J., & Nash, M. R. (2002) · International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis · doi:10.1080/00207140208410095 · Cited by 38
Dialectical behavior therapy compared to cognitive behavior therapy in binge‐eating disorder: An effectiveness study with 6‐month follow‐up
Lammers, M., Vroling, M., Crosby, R., & van Strien, T. (2022) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.23750 · Cited by 34
Allegiance Effects in Treatment Research: A Commentary
Hollon, S. (2006) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.6.1.107 · Cited by 32
L’évaluation et l’efficacité des psychothérapies psychanalytiques et de la psychanalyse
Rabeyron, T. (2020) · L Évolution Psychiatrique · doi:10.1016/j.evopsy.2020.07.003 · Cited by 43
The Impact of Anger Management Treatment and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in a Public School Setting on Social Skills, Anger Management, and Depression
Flanagan, R., Allen, K., & Henry, D. J. (2009) · Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1007/s10942-009-0102-4 · Cited by 37
Outcomes of Manualized Cognitive-Behavioral Body Image Therapy with Eating Disordered Women Treated in a Private Clinical Practice
NYE, S. S., & Cash, T. F. (2006) · Eating Disorders · doi:10.1080/10640260500403840 · Cited by 37
“An evidence-based practice not only applies empirically verified or efficacious procedures, but it also it attempts to ascertain the effectiveness of these procedures with clients who are the consumers of these services (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
Psychophysiologic effects of applied tension on the emotional fainting response to blood and injury
Vögele, C., Coles, J., Wardle, J., & Steptoe, A. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00133-4 · Cited by 37
More theory-driven and less diagnosis-based behavior therapy.
Eifert, G. (1996) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0005-7916(96)00008-0 · Cited by 37
Unpacking the therapist effect: Impact of treatment length differs for high- and low-performing therapists
Goldberg, S. B., Hoyt, W. T., Nissen-Lie, H. A., Nielsen, S. L., & Wampold, B. E. (2018) · Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1080/10503307.2016.1216625 · Cited by 35
“Psychotherapy appears to be an effective method for improving patients’ mental health (Seligman, 1995; Smith, Glass, & Miller, 1980).”
Method

Authors: Seligman, M. E. P.
Affiliations: University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author: Seligman, Martin E. P.
ORCID: Seligman, Martin E. P.
Venue: American Psychologist
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1995-12
Volume: 50
Issue: 12
Pages: 965-974
ISSN: 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
1935-990X
DOI: 10.1037/0003-066x.50.12.965
OpenAlex: W2121827944
Cited by: 1,608
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 6 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 54 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 57 · 2012: 75
FWCI: 75.90
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Institute of Mental Health (MH 19604)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics
Keywords: psychotherapy effectiveness, psychotherapy outcome, managed care, efficacy studies, randomized controlled trials, treatment comparison
MeSH terms: Consumer Behavior, Humans, Managed Care Programs, Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care, Psychotherapy, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome

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The effectiveness of psychotherapy: the Consumer Reports study

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