The maturing of therapy
BackgroundPsychiatric therapy needs assessment regarding its maturation as a therapeutic science.AimsJudgement of whether such a science is emerging.MethodFour criteria are used: efficacy; identification of responsible treatment components; knowledge of their mechanisms of action; and elucidation of why they act only in some sufferers.ResultsBrief behavioural, interpersonal, cognitive, problem-solving and other psychotherapies have a mature ability to improve anxiety and depressive disorders reliably and enduringly, often only with instruction from a manual or a computer. Therapy's cost-effectiveness and acceptability deserve more attention. We know little about which treatment components produce improvement, how they do so and why they do not help all sufferers.ConclusionsTherapy is coming of age regarding efficacy for anxiety and depression, but is only a toddler regarding the scientific principles to explain its effects.