ABSTRACT
Does it matter whether different psychotherapies have different ideas about human flourishing if research can tell us which treatments are most effective? The project to establish therapy as an evidence-based practice would seem to suggest that what is most important in the comparative assessment of therapy is research supporting efficacy in changing symptoms. Research shows that therapies of different orientations (cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic) are generally equivalent in efficacy, even when assessed with standard measures. A number of issues surrounding psychotherapy research are addressed: the role of common factors, the contrast between atomistic and holistic understandings of psychological problems, and the denial of important ethical questions that occurs when there is a univocal focus on standard conceptions of therapeutic efficacy.
