Child psychotherapy and research : bridging the gap

• Main Author: Midgley, Nick
• Published: University of Warwick 2014
• Subjects: 610; RJ Pediatrics
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.632903

Many authors have commented on the perceived gap between psychotherapy research and clinical practice, but with the rise of 'evidence-based practice' over the past decade, this gap has become more problematic. Whilst funders of services increasingly emphasise the importance of practice being informed by the best available research evidence, clinicians have become concerned with the way in which clinical and service-level decisions are based on an overly narrow definition of 'evidence'. Psychodynamic therapists have been especially cautious about 'evidence-based practice', arguing that the methodologies used are not appropriate for this type of therapy. Clinicians working with children have also been concerned that there is limited funding available to evaluate therapy with young people, and that the approaches used are often transposed from studies with adults, without attention to whether they are developmentally appropriate. This PhD by Published Works brings together a series of papers published between 2003 and 2014, which engage with these topics. They address issues of methodology and policy, as well as providing examples of attempts to 'bridge the gap' using both primary research and secondary reviews of the existing literature. The papers are mostly presented in chronological order, and have been organised into three sections. Part one, 'Incorporating qualitative research methods into child psychotherapy', includes three papers that deal conceptually and practically with the issue of identifying appropriate research methods for investigating child psychotherapy. The papers in part two, 'The case study as a method of research in child psychotherapy', examine the traditional method of investigating child psychotherapy, and explore the pros and cons of this approach. The final section, 'Engaging with the evidence-base for psychoanalytic child psychotherapy’, offers an approach to evaluation that draws on a range of methodologies, and thereby engages with evidence-based practice whilst also offering a critique of current approaches.