independent studies
psychotherapy worksJonathan Shelder, Psychologist
Empirical evidence supports the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy. Effect sizes for psychodynamic therapy are as large as those reported for other therapies that have been actively promoted as “empirically supported” and “evidence based.” In addition, patients who receive psychodynamic therapy maintain therapeutic gains and appear to continue to improve after treatment ends. Finally, non-psychodynamic therapies may be effective in part because the more skilled practitioners utilize techniques that have long been central to psychodynamic theory and practice.
Falk Leichsenring, Psychologist
There is evidence that both psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy are effective treatments of personality disorders.
Since the number of studies that could be included in this meta-analysis was limited, the conclusions that can be drawn are only preliminary.
Further studies are necessary that examine specific forms of psychotherapy for specific types of personality disorders and that use measures of core psychopathology.
Falk Leichsenring, Psychologist
Twenty-three randomized controlled trials of manual-guided psychodynamic psychotherapy applied in specific psychiatric disorders provided evidence that psychodynamic psychotherapy is superior to control conditions (treatment-as-usual or wait list) and, on the whole, as effective as already established treatments (e.g. cognitive-behavioural therapy) in specific psychiatric disorders. With regard to process research, central assumptions of psychodynamic psychotherapy were confirmed by empirical studies.
As a member of the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists:
