Changing attitudes toward evidence-based psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Abstract

Many clinicians hold misperceptions about evidence-based practice (EBP), and evidence-based psychodynamic therapy (PDT) in particular. It is important to address these beliefs and attitudes in graduate training and help students to consider evidence-based interventions from a range of theoretical orientations. This study reports on a required 15-week course in evidence-based PDT within two graduate psychology doctoral programs. Eighty-five students completed measures of attitudes toward EBP and PDT prior to the first class and after the final class. Students who identified with different theoretical orientationsintegrative, CBT, or PDT-did not differ in attitudes toward EBP, and student attitudes toward EBP remained stable. Students with a precourse CBT orientation viewed PDT less favorably than those with a psychodynamic orientation. Attitudes toward PDT improved significantly across all orientations, but CBToriented students reported the largest gains in positive attitudes toward PDT as compared to students with a PDT or integrative orientation. The results support the use of graduate training in evidence-based PDT to improve attitudes toward specific aspects of EBP and PDT. Findings also highlight the mutability of student attitudes and the potential for fostering an integrative approach to EBP that includes PDT. Further research is warranted to examine whether graduate courses in EBP can lead to use of a wider range of therapy interventions with clients.

All that glitters is not gold: The application of psychoanalytic principles to community mental health

“…Nevertheless, the fact that manualized cognitive behavioral therapies tend to be short‐term has been part of their appeal to administrators in community mental health clinics in that they make psychotherapy accessible to a greater number of people. Psychoanalysis has only recently shown the inclination to bend to this need by providing models for shorter term therapy (e.g., Aafjes‐van Doorn, et al., 2022; Abbass, 2016; Midgley, et al., 2017; Hoffman, 2015; Clarke [this and the next issue in this series]). Indeed, several of the treatment models described in this issue are examples of short‐term psychoanalytic work.…”