Does participation in research lead to changes in attitudes among clinicians? Report on a survey of those involved in a French practice research network

Abstract

Background/Objective: With increasing awareness of some of the limitations of randomised controlled trials as the ‘gold standard’ of psychotherapy evaluation, researchers at the start of the twenty‐first century have focused on a number of new priorities: developing studies in natural conditions; investigating the psychotherapeutic process to better understand the conditions, causes and mechanisms of change; and reducing the gap between clinicians and researchers. Can these three interrelated objectives be combined? Method: A French psychotherapy practice‐based research network (PRN) is used as a field of research for these issues. A survey was used to investigate the conditions that encouraged the clinicians to participate in the PRN study within the context of clinicians’ general opposition to research. Results: Several elements emerged as the key to clinicians’ positive involvement in research: the methodology implemented (intensive case studies during one year); the choice of measures; the constant attention to the practicalities and the potential contribution of studies to clinical practice; the organisation of work in peer groups; the training methods; the use of new information technologies and the sense of participation in a project that would support the profession. Implications: These elements are briefly discussed in relation to the question of how best to encourage clinicians to engage with research.

Why do psychotherapists participate in psychotherapy research and why not? Results of the Attitudes to Psychotherapy Research Questionnaire with a sample of experienced German psychotherapists

“…Furthermore, about half of the sample was able to name recent studies or research projects. These positive trends are also confirmed by a study from Thurin, Thurin, and Midgley (2012) who investigated 36 mainly psychoanalytic psychotherapists in France about their motives, conditions, and experiences for participation in a network study using an online Q-sort method. Results underline that psychotherapists perceived positive effects on their own clinical practice and reported no negative effects on their patients by research participation.…”

“…Strengths of the study are the large sample and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods which allow insights in motives of therapists and may help to design future research designs which fit the needs of experienced therapists. It seems necessary to include time and money when preparing a new study that aims to integrate clinicians more strongly than in the past (e.g., establishing a research support network (Thurin et al, 2012) or a supervision group .…”

Introducing SYPRENE: An International Practice Research Network for Strategic and Systemic Therapists and Researchers

“…Goldfried and Wolfe (1998) state that no amount of concern for methodological rigor—internal validity—can substitute for a research paradigm that will allow generalization to clinical reality—external validity. Practice‐based research addresses these limitations and broadens the scope of research (West et al., 1998), and practice‐based evidence complements evidence‐based practice (Thurin, Thurin, & Midgley, 2012). Criticisms of experimental methods (e.g., low external validity) led researchers to move toward studies of therapies in naturalistic settings using the case study method.…”

“…A PRN can be defined as a group of practicing clinicians who work together to collect data and conduct a variety of researches (Thurin et al, 2012) or as a "network of clinicians that collaborate to conduct research to inform their day-to-day practice" (Barkham & Mellor-Clark, 2003, p. 322). The PRN is based on an infrastructure which yields potentially large databases to be used as practice-based evidence (Thurin et al, 2012) and is often www.FamilyProcess.org 1948 / FAMILY PROCESS linked to an academic center (Barkham & Mellor-Clark, 2003). A PRN is characterized by an intense cooperation between clinicians and researchers, through an organization that endeavors to answer, through research, practice-based questions (Thurin, Thurin, Cohen, & Falissard, 2014).…”

Abstracts from Other Journals. Naturalistic Research

“…Some topics previously thought difficult to measure have been successfully researched, including the working alliance (Doran, Safran, Waizmann & Muran, 2012;Owen, Reese, Quirk, & Rodolfa, 2013); transference, countertransference, therapist emotional expression, and session quality (Markin, McCarthy, & Barber, 2013); and therapists' and patients' attachment styles (Petrowski, Pokorny, Nowacki, & Buchheim, 2013). There has been an encouraging number of studies of psychotherapy in the public sector (for instance, Hepple 2012; Marx & Marx 2012); and there is an ongoing debate about how to engage psychotherapists meaningfully with research (for instance, Midgley 2012; Reeves Seán Manning 2012; Thurin, Thurin, & Midgley, 2012;Widdowson, 2012).…”