1. Evaluating Psychotherapi es & Prevention Strategies Unit 13 Module 72

2. Is Psychotherapy Effective? Hard to “prove” success. Most clients report they felt “fairly satisfied.” Glowing testimonials can be deceiving Research shows: -Need to consider the placebo effect-> -“Regression towards the mean”-> -Studies from skeptics on fashionable treatments in the 1800s (i.e bleeding) showed control groups actually got better on their own -Hans Eysenck reported that among treated and UNTREATED, 2/3 were better in time -All in all, research shows that those treated are better off than 80% who do not get treatment

3. Are Some More Effective Than Others? Little if any connection between a clinician’s experience, training, supervision, and licensing impact client outcome. Some are more effective than others in treating particular issues: Therapy is best when treating clear-cut problems. APA encourages _______________________________in psychology. Advocates that clinicians integrate the best available research with clinical expertise and patient preferences.

4. Alternative Therapies Many do seek alternative therapies such as herbal medicine, massage, and spiritual healing. EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Created by Francine Shapiro. She noticed that her anxious thoughts would go away when her eyes spontaneously darted about. She began her research by having someone think of a traumatic event then would wave her finger in front of their eyes supposedly enabling them to unlock repressed memories. She reports 84-100% success with single trauma patients. Many question it. Some say it is merely distracting patients, thus allowing emotion-stimulating events to diminish. Light Exposure Therapy:

5. Looking at Psychothera py Three Major Benefits of all therapies: Does offer hope for demoralized people-> Offers a new perspective-> Effective therapists offer an empathetic, trusting, caring relationship where people feel safe to communicate their feelings. Offer a good listening ear.

6. Preventing Psychologic al Disorders Can disorders be prevented? ->Need to build individuals’ resilience! -> Need to not only look at the person who needs treatment, but the person’s social context. -> Need to focus on empowering those who feel helpless, renew the disintegrating family, bolster parent and teacher skills, etc. in order to foster growth, self-confidence, and resilience- BAM!