ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the case against psychotherapy in terms of abstract-seeming questions as to whether psychotherapy can claim to be scientific and whether it can be shown to be effective. Psychotherapy as a form of preventive care is an active if complex area of psychotherapy research. Psychotherapy and drug therapy are not mutually exclusive. Psychotherapy is the “soft” end of psychiatry and, as such, is vulnerable to resource starvation, just as psychiatry loses out through being the “soft” end of medicine. Psychotherapy is effective and is what many patients want, expect, and need when they experience emotional distress or illness. The economic case against psychotherapy would be that it should be accorded a low priority in public expenditure because it offers poor value for money. Investment in psychotherapy, based on sound economic arguments, is necessary if this need is to be met.
