An update on empirically validated therapies

In 1995 the Division 12 Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures published its report in this journal. A major focus of that report was increasing training in psychological interventions that have been supported in empirical research by making clinical psychologists and students more aware of these treatments and facilitating training opportunities. To provide the basis for a survey on the degree to which clinical programs and internships were currently providing training in empirically supported therapies, the task force constructed a list of examples of treatments meeting criteria for efficacy as established by the task force. Based on feedback that members of the profession found this list of interventions to be very useful in training and clinical work, while also recognizing its very incomplete basis, the Division 12 board charged the succeeding task force (Task Force on Psychological Interventions), appointed in succession by Presidents Martin Seligman and Gerald Koocher, with adding to this preliminary list on an annual basis. This is one purpose of the current report. In addition, we raise several issues about the use and limitations of empirically supported treatments as currently identified. In keeping with the practice established by the first task force, the members of the group who constructed the present report are diverse in theoretical orientation and work in a variety of settings -- psychology departments, medical schools, and private practice.

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English

Chambless, D. L., et al. (1996). An update on empirically validated therapies. The Clinical Psychologist, 49, 5-18