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Introduction to the special issue on the placebo concept in psychotherapy
Author(s) -
Herbert James D.,
Gaudiano Brandon A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20125
Subject(s) - psychotherapist , psychology , placebo , mental health , alternative medicine , medicine , pathology
As research on the effectiveness of psychotherapy has flourished over the past two decades, scholars have increasingly borrowed various research strategies, including the placebo concept, from medicine. The recent movement toward evidence‐based treatment in mental health has also highlighted psychological placebos as control conditions against which to define empirically supported psychotherapies. Nevertheless, the application of the placebo concept to psychotherapy is fraught with both conceptual and pragmatic problems. This special issue brings together leading psychotherapy scholars to explore the concept of the placebo to psychotherapy. Historical, theoretical, ethical, and practical issues are discussed from various perspectives, and recommendations are offered to guide future research. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 61: 787–790, 2005.