Assessing the effects of psychotherapy. IV. The incompatibility between the logic of the experiment and the nature of psychotherapy.
The reverence of the experimental method in psychotherapy research, even where it is pointless or unwarranted, is taken as an instance of the rhetoric function of science. The distinguishing features of an experiment, manipulation and randomization, are explicated. The vital assumption of the effect of the experimental treatment being constant among subjects is demonstrated, and it is concluded that this assumption is unwarranted, on both theoretical and empirical grounds, as applied to psychotherapy.
Stockholm County Council Psychotherapy Institute, Sweden.
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Sandell
D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012107:Research Design