Effective Treatments

Effective and efficient treatments require essential components:

• They use research and evidence based approaches.
• They use treatment protocols and manuals derived and verified within research studies that form the evidence base.
• Therapists have advanced training, education, competence and adherence in the evidence based protocols and manuals.
• Therapists use routine outcome measures at the beginning, during and at the end of treatments.

Forty years ago psychotherapy and the psychological therapies began their journey from a small enclave, available to only a few, to what is now a relatively large resource available to many.

The treatments and therapies that started on a journey in the 1960’s and 1970’s are not necessarily the same travellers we see on the road today. Some have dropped away and others have joined. Our views and perspectives on these treatments and therapies have changed, developed and matured.

At the beginning of the journey a major emphasis was placed on making existing treatments and therapies available to more people - increasing access. Improving access is of course still an important issue.

As time passed there was developing interest in what treatments and therapies work best for who. An emphasis on research and evidence based practice evolved underpinning a drive for effective and efficient treatments and therapies.

Paul Burstow MP

Minister of State for Care Services (UK)

Department of Health (DH) (2011) Talking therapies: A four year plan of action. London: Department of Health.

Evolution and Standards of Effective Treatment

Over the last decade there has been significant movement and progress towards safe and effective psychotherapeutic treatments. This movement has in large part been facilitated through:

• The application of research in evidence based practice.

and

• The evolution of practice based evidence, and the routine use of clinical outcome measures.

As a result there are now standards of practice for safe and effective treatment (here).