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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Background
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BackgroundInfluential
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“More recently, the publication of the Consumer Reports survey (Seligman, 1995) of their readers’ need for, utilization of, and satisfaction with psychotherapy has provoked a renewed debate regarding outcome research methodology.”
Background
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Background
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Result
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“Seligman (1995), among others, has criticized this aspect of RCTs because they select for only one diagnosis using a large number of exclusion criteria while, in actual practice settings, including college student psychotherapy, most clients have multiple problems, especially clients toward the…”
Background
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Background
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“In summary, more research is needed to assess the effectiveness of iCBT in clinical practice, because RCT studies tend to suffer from a lack of ecological validity (Seligman, 1995).”
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“Overprotective parents may step in to make sure their children do not fail or struggle, which can mean they miss out on chances to become resilient and develop a healthy and realistic sense of self-worth [11].”
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“Further, we concur with Seligman (1995) that “…how patients fare under the conditions of treatment in the field can yield useful and credible ‘empirical validation’ of psychotherapy and medication” (p. 996) that augments findings from treatment efficacy studies.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluential
Collaborative decision making improves interpersonal psychotherapy efficiency: A randomized clinical trial with postpartum women
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“Seligman (1995) noted decades ago that community-based psychotherapy that is not confined by a protocol is self-correcting– i.e., the therapist and patient work together, give each other feedback, and utilize different techniques or structure if the current treatment is not effective.”
Background
Effect of long-acting antipsychotic treatment on psychiatric hospitalization rate in early psychosis patients: a naturalistic study
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“62 However, the absence of randomization likely contributes to a prescription indication bias, where patients with better insight are more likely to receive oral antip-sychotics more frequently, while patients with poorer insight may refuse LAIs from the outset.”
Background
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“…studies that are concerned with how much an intervention works, efficacy studies use controlled conditions (e.g. control groups) to allow researchers to determine whether an intervention contributes to expected forms of change under conditions of high internal validity (Seligman, 1995).”
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“As compared with clinical trials the advantage of open naturalistic studies is to capture how and to whom treatment is actually delivered in clinical practice (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
The Survey of European Psychotherapy Training 2: questionnaire data
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“How enduring are the results? the durability of psychotherapy outcomes An early, large-scale example of surveying clients after psychotherapy in relation to this question was conducted in 1994 by the Consumers Union (Seligman, 1995).”
Background
PTSD Treatment Research: An Overview and Evaluation
Hamblen, J. L., Barnett, E. R., Hermann, B. A., & Schnurr, P. P. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195399066.013.0028 · Cited by 3
Role of Gratitude in Positive Adolescent Development
Khanna, P., Singh, K. K., & Dua, S. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-9881-1_19 · Cited by 2
Unmet Needs in the Management of Major Depressive Disorder
(2010) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852900027917 · Cited by 3
What Are the Recipes of an Entrepreneur’s Subjective Well-Being? A Fuzzy-Set Approach for China
Yang, Z., Cai, X., Jiang, Y., Li, G., Zhao, G., Wang, P., & Huang, Z. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20010417 · Cited by 4
“According to positive psychology theory [14], when people have more positive emotions such as pleasure, interest, pride, and”
BackgroundInfluential
Fluoxetine plus lithium for treatment of mental health impairment in Long Covid
Fessel, J. (2023) · Discover Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s44192-022-00027-w · Cited by 3
“An older (1995) report indicated that psychotherapy may be suboptimal for about 25%, although that was not a formal study [80].”
Background
Virtual first: implementation of a novel sleep telehealth platform in the United States military
Wickwire, E. M., Collen, J. F., Capaldi, V. F., Assefa, S. Z., Jones, R. L., Williams, S. G., Thomas, C. L., Williams, D. C., & Albrecht, J. S. (2024) · Frontiers in Sleep · doi:10.3389/frsle.2024.1304743 · Cited by 3
“For patients, an established questionnaire (Seligman, 1995) was modiﬁed to assess perceptions regarding the personalized sleep report and separately, the personalized sleep education and trainings.”
Factors facilitating and hindering the implementation of digital sleep coaching for bus drivers
Järnefelt, H., Anttilainen, J., Karhula, K., Hublin, C., Pehkonen, I., & Sallinen, M. (2024) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104356 · Cited by 4
Belief Modification in Cognitive Therapy
Tonneau, F. (2011) · Clínica y Salud · doi:10.5093/cl2011v22n3a6 · Cited by 4
“The efficacy of a treatment package determined through randomized controlled trials, for example, may differ from the effectiveness of this treatment in the clinical population at large (Seligman, 1995).”
Method
Grundlagen der klinisch-psychologischen Behandlung
Baumann, U., & Perrez, M. (2000) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-3768-0_1 · Cited by 3
Es ging mir schlechter, als ich dachte!
Ülsmann, D., & Fydrich, T. (2013) · Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie · doi:10.1026/1616-3443/a000195 · Cited by 3
The Use of Cognitive and Experiential Techniques to Treat Depression
Rude, S., & Bates, D. E. (2005) · Clinical Case Studies · doi:10.1177/1534650103259749 · Cited by 6
“…therapy (CBT), which has variably been found to be as effective or potentially more effective than other forms of psychotherapy in the short-term treatment of depression (Dobson, 1989; Gloaguen, Cottraux, Cucherat, & Blackburn, 1998; Rude, 1986; Rude & Rehm, 1991; Seligman, 1996).”
Background
FOCUS ON CHANGE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING AND EVALUATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS
Evans, I. M., & Fletcher, A. J. (2013) · PSYCHOLOGIA · doi:10.2117/psysoc.2013.113 · Cited by 3
“We want our therapy to have lasting benefits that will extend beyond the cessation of problems and will genuinely assist people have more fulfilling lives (Seligman, 1995).”
BackgroundInfluential
A Comparison of Therapy Alone Versus Therapy and Medication in a Community Clinic
Brown, J. S., Stellrecht, N. E., Williams, F. M., Denoma, J. M., Wingate, L. R., Lima, E. N., Reitzel, L. R., & Joiner, T. E. (2005) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/jcop.2005.19.4.309 · Cited by 3
Contribution to assessment of effects of Rational emotive behaviour therapy
Popov, B. (2004) · Psihologija · doi:10.2298/psi0403375p · Cited by 3
An integrative body therapy approach: The Neo-Functionalism approach
Ottoboni, G., & Iacono, M. (2012) · Body Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/17432979.2012.749813 · Cited by 3
“In summary, it is hoped that the present report on NF will lead to further studies of this therapeutic approach, building upon previous studies by Homma and Masake (2008), Man, Tsang, and Hui-Chan (2010), Nolan et al. (2005) and Seligman (1995).”
BackgroundResult
Sagen dysfunktionale Kognitionen den Therapieerfolg voraus?
Ertle, A., Joormann, J., Wahl, K., & Kordon, A. (2009) · Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie · doi:10.1026/1616-3443.38.1.44 · Cited by 3

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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