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Problems with the use of placebo conditions in psychotherapy research, suggested alternatives, and some strategies for the pursuit of the placebo phenomenon
Author(s) -
Borkovec T. D.,
Sibrava Nicholas J.
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.20127
Subject(s) - placebo , psychology , psychotherapist , phenomenon , clinical psychology , medicine , alternative medicine , epistemology , philosophy , pathology
Due to the numerous conceptual, methodological, and ethical problems that are associated with placebo conditions in psychotherapy research, their use should be abandoned, and more powerful therapy outcome designs (dismantling, additive, parametric, and catalytic) that can contribute to basic knowledge through their ability to isolate specific cause‐and‐effect relationships are recommended. On the other hand, if indeed the placebo effect is a reliable phenomenon, it would be wise to pursue its causal mechanisms, and some research strategies for initiating such pursuit are briefly described. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 61: 805–818, 2005.