ABSTRACT
‘Evidence in the Balance’ was the title of a conference organised by the Psychotherapy Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the University Psychotherapy Association and the Association of University Teachers of Psychiatry. The discussions that took place of why and how psychotherapeutic services might be more ‘evidence based’ deserve a wider audience. Since the meeting, ways in which ‘evidence’ is likely to impinge on everyday practice have been clarified within the National Health Service’s programme of ‘clinical governance’. This strategy, and the wholesale reform of the service’s institutions that it entails, has been a cornerstone of the drive to include quality assurance within the responsibilities of NHS providers (cf. Mace, 1999). Evidence-based practice is no longer a movement that any clinician can ignore.
