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Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Means Evidence-Informed, Not Evidence-Driven

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Abstract

Some advocates of empirically-supported treatments (ESTs) argue that practitioners who do not use them are practicing unethically. I argue that it is unethical to try to impose EST criteria on the field of psychotherapy practice when (a) there is considerable controversy over these criteria, (b) there are alternative ways to construe evidence-based practice, and (c) by other criteria many approaches are evidence-based. I consider views of the relationship of science to practice, and other bases for practice such as practical knowledge and ethics. I conclude with a case history of client-centered therapy.

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Correspondence to Arthur C. Bohart Ph.D..

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Bohart, A.C. Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Means Evidence-Informed, Not Evidence-Driven. J Contemp Psychother 35, 39–53 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-005-0802-8

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