title: An approach to psychotherapy change process research: introduction to the special section.
abstract: This special section has a dual focus. One is on psychotherapy change research. The other is to explicate an approach to develop a program of research that builds on 2 aspects of scientific discovery: decomposition of observed phenomena and localization of specific elements that may combine to produce a complex whole. These aspects are considered within an ordered framework of 8 steps in the development and testing of a model, moving from discovery to model construction, validation, and prediction of complex outcomes. Studies on psychotherapy change processes were selected, after a masked review, to represent different levels in developing a program of research. Although it is argued that the early steps of decomposition and localization are important when developing a program of research, current editorial practices in first-tier journals, including the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, typically consider this type of study to be too preliminary for a scientific archival journal. Should this practice be revisited?
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010553:Personality Development; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012106:Research