EFFICACY
RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIALS
CONTROLLED TRIALS
In controlled trials and in clinical practice 'psychotherapy' results in benefits that markedly exceed those experienced by individuals who need mental health services but do not receive psychotherapy'. (APA 2012).
Randomised control trials (RCT's) are considered the gold standard of scientific experiments to test the efficacy and effectiveness of a medical treatment. It involves groups of people first being carefully selected for suitability for a particular trial. Then, a randomly selected part of the group is given the treatment whilst the remainder of the group is given an alternative treatment. The effect is statistically measured by assessing the results. Below you will find the results of clinical trials indicating psychodynamic psychotherapy to be 3 times more effective than antidepressant medication.
Learn more by reading The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy by Jonathan Shedler from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Click the button below to explore the journal published in 2010 in the American Psychologist.
TREATMENT RESULTS
ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATIONS
Treatment | Results | Improvement |
|---|---|---|
Citalopram | 0.24 | small |
Prozac | 0.26 | small |
Average of 12 Medications | 0.31 | small |
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Treatment | Results | Improvement |
|---|---|---|
General Psychotherapy | 0.85 | large |
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy | 0.97 | largest |
The following clinical trial result indicators are generally accepted:
0.2 = clear evidence of a small improvement
0.5 = clear evidence of a moderate improvement
0.8 = clear evidence of a large improvement
Research Sources: Turner et al (2008) & Shedler (2010).