ABSTRACT
A group of experts in psychotherapy research were called together in 1968 for a workshop on the best principles for designing efficacy studies for psychotherapies. One must start planning a study with a realistic acceptance of the principle that it is an unrealizable goal to fashion a single perfect study that will decide once and for all on effectiveness of each type of psychotherapy. All treatment studies have some unknown factors influencing their outcomes. Correlational design is often used to investigate whether a variable in the treatment, such as psychological health, is related to other variables in the treatment or to outcome measures. Along with the general outcome measures, such as general improvement, individually specific outcome measures are also desirable to include. The patient often comes to therapy seeking relief for specific complaints, often depression and anxiety, and the patient and therapist may identify other specific goals.
