title: Controlling is not enough: the importance of measuring the process and specific effectiveness of psychotherapy treatment and control conditions.
abstract: The major argument of this article is that failing to measure what is taking place in treatment and control conditions can lead to scientifically invalid conclusions. It is argued that researchers are ethically responsible for being aware that variables related to the therapist, client, and the therapeutic relationship (as well as their interaction) might play a confounding role when treatment and control conditions are compared. As a consequence, they should either measure those variables or be tentative in their interpretation of their findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16803, USA. lgc3@psu.edu
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Castonguay
mesh_terms: D035841:Behavioral Research; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D035061:Control Groups; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D012107:Research Design; D035842:Research Subjects
keywords: Biomedical and Behavioral Research; Mental Health Therapies