My guests today are Bruce Wampold and Pim Cuijpers, two of the leading experts in the research of the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Bruce is Emeritus Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of the seminal book, Pim is Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is also director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions.
In this conversation, we discuss the evidence for psychotherapy as a whole, the evidence for how the effectiveness of different psychotherapies compare, how to study the drivers of change in psychotherapy (such as the “therapeutic alliance”) and discuss what the current evidence suggests as fruitful avenues for the future of psychotherapeutic research and practice.
Episode Links and References
Bruce’s podcast – Making Therapy Better
Pim’s paper: Absolute and relative outcomes of psychotherapies for eight mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Pim’s paper: The Role of Common Factors in Psychotherapy Outcomes
Neil Jacobson’s CBT dismantling study: A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression
Alan Kadzin’s paper: Mediators and Mechanisms of Change in Psychotherapy Research
Bruce’s paper: What should we practice? A contextual model for how psychotherapy works
Digital interventions for the treatment of depression: A meta-analytic review
Tim Anderson’s facilitative interpersonal skills
Michael Constatino’s paper: Effect of Matching Therapists to Patients vs Assignment as Usual on Adult Psychotherapy Outcomes
A series of lectures that Pim gave as he retired, on “Solving the toll of depression”