title: Looking back, looking forward: A historical reflection on psychotherapy process research.
abstract: In 1983, a group of 14 prominent psychotherapy process researchers attended a workshop sponsored by the US National Institute of Mental Health. Although the previous decade had seen a marked emphasis on psychotherapy outcome research, there had also been several major advances in the field of process research. The goals of the workshop were to review the current state of the field, address methodological and conceptual issues, and provide recommendations to advance scholarship in this area. In this paper, we summarize the major themes of the workshop and consider the degree to which its recommendations have come to fruition via subsequent developments in the field. Although 30 years have passed since the workshop was held, its insights remain highly relevant to psychotherapy process research today.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies , The Family Institute at Northwestern University , Evanston , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Lynne M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Knobloch-Fedders
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elkin
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kiesler
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D012106:Research / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States
keywords: history of psychotherapy research; psychotherapy process research; psychotherapy research methods