Building Bridges to Evidence-based Practice: The MacArthur Foundation Child System and Treatment Enhancement Projects (Child STEPs)

Abstract

The papers in this special issue describe research undertaken by the MacArthur Foundation-funded Research Network on Youth Mental Health. The project is designed to understand the challenges of implementing evidence-based treatments in community-based mental health practices. This Introduction and the following articles describe the impetus and conceptual framework underlying one cluster of the Network's activity-i.e., the Clinic Systems Project (CSP). The CSP studies examined the organizational and service system environments in a large national sample of community mental health and affiliated organizations that provide services to children. The main goal is to identify leverage points for, and barriers to, the adoption and implementation of evidence-based practices for children.

More Practice, Less Preach? The Role of Supervision Processes and Therapist Characteristics in EBP Implementation

“…Characterizations of “supervision as usual” vary: A survey of 200 directors of mental health clinics described supervision similar to the procedures used in RCTs, with weekly meetings for almost all cases, frequent live observation of sessions, and regular use of session recordings (Schoenwald et al, 2008). In contrast, 20% of therapists treating youth for child sexual abuse in community mental health clinics reported monthly supervision or no supervision at all (Kolko et al, 2009).…”

Therapist Training on Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxiety Disorders Using Internet-Based Technologies

“…Unfortunately, continuing education approaches such as workshops, presentations, and conferences are not widely available for practicing clinicians outside of these large systems to learn to deliver EBTs. Moreover, the limited continuing education that is available has not resulted in increased uptake and dissemination (Cartreine, et al, 2010; Herschell, Kolko, Baumann, & Davis, 2010; Joyce & Showers, 2002; Miller & Mount, 2001; Schoenwald, Kelleher, & Weisz, 2008), long-term changes in therapists’ behaviors or improvements in patient outcomes (Herschell, et al, 2010). This is likely due to the limited format of current continuing education efforts (Herschell, et al, 2010).…”

Promoting Youth Self-Regulation through Psychotherapy: Redesigning Treatments to Fit Complex Youths in Clinical Care

“…This suggests a need to improve the potency of EBPs with youths in everyday clinical service contexts. This has been one of the core objectives of our Research Network on Youth Mental Health (e.g., Schoenwald, Kelleher, & Weisz, 2008). We have tried to address some of the limitations of EBPs identified by critics, particularly when those concerns matched our own, arising from our attempts to implement and test EBPs in such everyday treatment settings as community mental health clinics (e.g., Southam-Gerow et al, 2010;Weisz et al, 2009).…”