Brief Psychotherapy Methods in Clinical Research

Mary P. Koss, James N. Butcher, Hans H. Strupp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Because short-duration psychotherapy presents pragmatic advantages to the researcher, it has been widely utilized. After a concise overview of the technical characteristics that define brief psychotherapy, the current use and misuse of these methods in clinical research on the outcome and process of treatment is examined. At issue is the adequacy with which the defining technical characteristics of brief psychotherapy have been examined; the degree to which many studies offered treatment that exemplified well-conceptualized, planned brief psychotherapy; the extent to which research has addressed representative clinical problems and populations; and the existence or lack of a cumulative data base on the prescriptive use of brief methods. In addition to the advantages of brief psychotherapy approaches, the inherent limitations of these methods are also considered. The authors suggest areas for future study and conclude that brief psychotherapy methods, when appropriately applied, possess unique technical advantages to the researcher.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)60-67
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of consulting and clinical psychology
Volume54
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1986
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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