TY - JOUR
T1 - Guidelines for classifying evidence-based treatments in couple and family therapy
AU - Sexton, Thomas
AU - Gordon, Kristina Coop
AU - Gurman, Alan
AU - Lebow, Jay
AU - Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy
AU - Johnson, Susan
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Guidelines for Evidence-Based Treatments in Family Therapy are intended to help guide clinicians, researchers, and policy makers in identifying specific clinical interventions and treatment programs for couples and families that have scientifically based evidence to support their efficacy. In contrast to criteria, which simply identify treatments that "work" and have been employed in the evaluation of other psychotherapies, these guidelines propose a three-tiered levels-of-evidence-based model that moves from "evidence-informed," to "evidence-based," to "evidence-based and ready for dissemination and transportation within diverse community settings." Each level reflects an interaction between the specificity of the intervention, the strength and readth of the outcomes, and the quality of the studies that form the evidence. These guidelines uniquely promote a clinically based "matrix" approach in which the empirical support is evaluated according to various dimensions including strength of the outcomes, the applicability across cultural contexts, and demonstration of specific change mechanisms. The guidelines are offered not only as a basis for understanding the evidence for diverse clinical approaches in couple and family therapy within the systemic tradition of the field, but also as an alternative aspirational model for evaluating all psychotherapies.
AB - Guidelines for Evidence-Based Treatments in Family Therapy are intended to help guide clinicians, researchers, and policy makers in identifying specific clinical interventions and treatment programs for couples and families that have scientifically based evidence to support their efficacy. In contrast to criteria, which simply identify treatments that "work" and have been employed in the evaluation of other psychotherapies, these guidelines propose a three-tiered levels-of-evidence-based model that moves from "evidence-informed," to "evidence-based," to "evidence-based and ready for dissemination and transportation within diverse community settings." Each level reflects an interaction between the specificity of the intervention, the strength and readth of the outcomes, and the quality of the studies that form the evidence. These guidelines uniquely promote a clinically based "matrix" approach in which the empirical support is evaluated according to various dimensions including strength of the outcomes, the applicability across cultural contexts, and demonstration of specific change mechanisms. The guidelines are offered not only as a basis for understanding the evidence for diverse clinical approaches in couple and family therapy within the systemic tradition of the field, but also as an alternative aspirational model for evaluating all psychotherapies.
KW - Couple therapy
KW - Evidence-based treatments
KW - Family therapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052246135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80052246135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01363.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01363.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 21884076
AN - SCOPUS:80052246135
SN - 0014-7370
VL - 50
SP - 377
EP - 392
JO - Family process
JF - Family process
IS - 3
ER -