Choosing your
Psychotherapist
Marin Garavalia
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Needing Therapy
You do not have to
be crazy or
mentally ill to need
therapy.
Therapy is most
needed when you
are unable to
resolve problems
through normal
coping mechanisms
or support network.
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What is Therapy?
Many different
variations.
Same basic goal - to
change your life to
make you happier,
more productive and
more effective as a
person.
Does it really work?
Which method is
best?
Previous studies on
methods of therapy
and counseling were
too small in group
size and number of
methods tested.
 Mary Lee Smith and
Gene Glass,
University of
Colorado, reanalyzed
the studies in 1977.
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Mary Lee Smith and Gene Glass
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Chose 375 studies and
used meta-analysis to
develop overall and
relative effectiveness of
counseling.
3 goals: to identify the
studies, to determine
the magnitude, and to
compare the effects.
Smith and Glass
compared all the
treated subjects with
the untreated subjects.
Method of Reanalyzing
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Smith and Glass
compared all the
treated subjects with
the untreated subjects.
Generally, therapy was
found to be more
effective than no
treatment.
Psychotherapy
appeared to be
successful but
differences between
methods were
insignificant.
Results
Consider what your expectations of
therapy are and the characteristics of
your therapist you most care about.
 Other studies have used meta-analysis:
Effectiveness of group therapy, recurrent
migraines, and a study of therapy for the
mentally impaired.
 Smith and Glass’s study encouraged focus
on helping those in psychological pain, not
which method was superior.
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Applications