An op-ed piece was published recently in the New York Times, in which a psychoanalyst declared that his profession was beyond mere grubby evaluation of effectiveness. The colleague who drew this to my attention also sent me a collection of responses to it, among them a great one from our very own Scott Lilienfeld. I'm sure he won't mind if I reproduce it here (please excuse me if the formatting gets messed up in the re-posting; it looks ok at the moment).
New York Times, March 2 2006 Beyond Data: Does Therapy Work? > To the Editor: Re "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Measure" (Op-Ed, > Feb. 26): Adam Phillips revives the old and worn argument that the > effects > of psychotherapy are so ineffable that they cannot, > or perhaps should not, be quantified. In fact, hundreds of > carefully controlled studies now demonstrate that several > psychotherapeutic modalities, especially behavioral, cognitive- > behavioral, interpersonal and perhaps short-term psychodynamic > treatments, exert positive and measurable effects on the symptoms > of > depression, anxiety, bulimia, insomnia, sexual dysfunction and > other > conditions. Mr. Phillips's claim to the contrary, the > primary impetus underlying the increasing pressure to assess > psychotherapy outcomes is not the desire to appear scientific. > It is the laudable desire to hold psychotherapists accountable for > their > claims to alleviate mental suffering. Mr. Phillips cannot > have things > both ways. If he charges his clients for his therapy > hours, which I assume that as a psychoanalyst he does, he must > presumably be offering a legitimate service with measurable > effects. If he is not offering such a service, then it is not > clear what benefit he is offering beyond that of an empathic > or perceptive friend who is surely less expensive. > Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D. Atlanta, Feb. 26, 2006 > The writer is an associate professor of psychology at Emory > University and editor of the Scientific Review of Mental Health > Practice. My only quibble is with Scott's claim that "perhaps short-term psychodynamic treatment" may be effective, which may be just Scott being nice (not a problem I have). While psychodynamic treatment may be better than no treatment, I'm not aware that it offers anything "beyond that of an empathic or perceptive friend". And from a satisfied customer of psychoanalysis, this: > To the Editor: > I have been to a psychiatrist a couple of times in my life <snip> And when > all else fails, my therapist has these > wonderful little hard candies I am quite fond of. > Bruce Neuman > East Hampton, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2006 Ah, the therapeutic power of wonderful little hard candies. Expensive way to get them, though. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
