Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:05:03.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What Price Psychotherapy? a Rejoinder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Sidney Bloch  and
Michael J. Lambert
Sidney Bloch*
Affiliation:
Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX and University of Oxford
Michael J. Lambert
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1952 Eysenck threw down the gauntlet, when he claimed that psychoanalytical forms of psychotherapy were no more effective than spontaneous remission. As we trudge through the fourth decade of this debate, its quality remains as divisive and acrimonious as ever. Professor Michael Shepherd (1979, 1980) has latterly taken on Eysenck's mantle, averring that psychotherapy is not only ineffective but may actually harm patients. In an editorial in the British Medical Journal (1984), he launched yet a further attack, arguing on this occasion that the psychotherapist is little more than a ‘placebologist’ exerting his effects through nonspecific means. Why bother with highly trained therapists when an inert pill will produce the same result?

Type
Comments
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 146 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 96 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, G. & Harvey, R. (1981) Does psychotherapy benefit neurotic patients? A reanalysis of the Smith, Glass and Miller data. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1203–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, G. (1983) Psychotherapy outcome: a wider view leads to different conclusions. The Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 6, 285–286.Google Scholar
Candy, J., Balfour, F. H. G., Cawley, R. H., Hildebrand, H. P., Malan, D. H., Marks, I. M. & Wilson, J. (1982) A feasibility study for a controlled trial of formal psychotherapy. Psychological Medicine, 2, 345–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dush, D. M., Hirt, M. L. & Schroeder, H. (1983) Self-statement modification with adults: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 94, 408–422.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1952) The effects of psychotherapy: An evaluation. International Journal of Psychiatry, 16, 319–324.Google Scholar
Greenberg, R. P. (1983) Revisiting psychotherapy outcome: promise and problems. The Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 6, 294–295.Google Scholar
Landman, J. & Dawes, R. M. (1982) Psychotherapy outcome: Smith and Glass conclusions stand up under scrutiny. American Psychologist, 37, 504–516.Google Scholar
Luborsky, L., Mintz, J., Auerbach, A., Christoph, P., Bachrach, H., Todd, T., Johnson, M., Cohen, M. & O'Brien, C. P. (1980) Predicting the outcome of psychotherapy: Findings of the Penn Psychotherapy Project. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 471–481.Google Scholar
Miller, R. C. & Berman, J. S. (1983) The efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapies: A quantitative review of research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 39–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicholson, R. A. & Berman, J. S. (1983) Is follow-up necessary in evaluating psychotherapy? Psychological Bulletin, 93, 261–278.Google Scholar
Prioleau, L., Murdoch, M. & Brody, B. (1983) An analysis of psychotherapy versus placebo studies. The Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 6, 275–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quality Assurance Project (1983) A treatment outline for depressive disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 17, 129–146.Google Scholar
Shapiro, D. A. & Shapiro, D. (1982) Meta-analysis of comparative therapy outcome studies: a replication and refinement. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 581–604.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepherd, M. (1979) Psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and health services. British Medical Journal, 2, 1557–1559.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M. (1980) The statutory registration of psychotherapists? Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 4, 166–168.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M. (1984) What price psychotherapy? British Medical Journal, 288, 809–810.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sloane, R. B., Staples, F. R., Cristol, A. H., Yorkston, N. J. & Whipple, K. (1975) Psychotherapy versus Behaviour Therapy. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M. L. & Glass, G. V. (1977) Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies. American Psychologist, 32, 752–760.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, M. L. & Miller, T. I. (1980) The Benefits of Psychotherapy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Strupp, H. H. & Hadley, S. W. (1979) Specific versus non-specific factors in psychotherapy. A controlled study of outcome. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 1125–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strupp, H. H. (1980) Success and failure in time-limited psychotherapy. A systematic comparison of two cases. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 595–603.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.