Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 WHICH KIND OF THERAPY WORKS BEST? 
Although most psychologists feel confi dent that psychotherapeutic treatment in gen-
eral is more effective than no treatment at all, the question of whether any specifi c 
form of treatment is superior to any other has not been answered defi nitively (Nathan, 
Stuart, & Dolan, 2000; Westen, Novotny, & Thompson-Brenner, 2004; Abboud, 2005). 
For instance, one classic study comparing the effectiveness of various approaches 
found that although success rates vary somewhat by treatment form, most treatments 
show fairly equal success rates. As Figure 1 indicates, the rates ranged from about 
70–85% greater success for treated compared with untreated individuals. Behavioral 
and cognitive approaches tended to be slightly more successful, but that result may 
have been due to differences in the severity of the cases treated (Smith, Glass, & 
Miller, 1980; Orwin & Condray, 1984). 
Other research, which relies on meta-analysis in which data from a large number 
of studies are statistically combined, yields similar general conclusions. Furthermore, 
a large survey of 186,000 individuals found that respondents felt they had benefi ted 
substantially from psychotherapy. However, there was little difference in “consumer 
satisfaction” on the basis of the specifi c type of treatment they had received (Selig-
man, 1995; Malouff, Thorsteinsson, & Schutte, 2007; Cuijpers et al., 2008). 
spontaneous remission
Recovery 
without treatment.
Study Alert
Pay special attention to the 
discussion of (1) whether 
therapy is eff ective in 
general and (2) what 
specifi c types of therapy 
are eff ective because it is a 
key issue for therapists.
feL82795_ch16_542-575.indd Page 560 8/5/10 3:20 PM user-f465
feL82795_ch16_542-575.indd Page 560 8/5/10 3:20 PM user-f465
/Users/user-f465/Desktop
/Users/user-f465/Desktop

---