On Psychotherapeutic Effectiveness

undreds of evaluative studies of psychotherapy still leave unsettled the issue of the effectiveness of psychotherapy. "The Problem of Psychotherapeutic Effectiveness" argues that such studies have ignored the major determinant of therapeutic effectiveness, the role of a patient’s belief in the successful outcome in therapy. It makes little sense to claim that a certain therapy is effective or ineffective in itself; rather, there is a relation of mutual interaction among three terms: a patient’s ability to learn in a psychological context, a therapist’s ability to teach, and the capacity of an approach to therapy to engender in the patient the necessary belief in its effectiveness.

“Many thanks for your...excellent paper. It is one of the best, if not the best, that I have read on this subject.”

– Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, Health Science Center, State University of New York, Syracuse (letter to the author, November 15, 1990)

“I find myself in substantial agreement with your major points which are well stated.”

– Hans H. Strupp, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University (letter to the author, November 14, 1990)

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Click here to download Steven James Bartlett’s “The Problem of Psychotherapeutic Effectiveness”