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Prescriptive v. Exploratory Psychotherapy

Outcomes of the Sheffield Psychotherapy Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David A. Shapiro  and
Jenny Firth
David A. Shapiro*
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council Social and Applied Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN
Jenny Firth
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council Social and Applied Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

Prior research suggests that psychotherapeutic techniques which differ in their contents are quite similar in their outcomes. Outcome data are reported from a study designed to maximise sensitivity to technique effects on outcome in a clinically realistic setting, and to permit detailed analysis of the relations between content, immediate impact, and outcome of therapy. Forty professional and managerial workers with depression or anxiety received eight sessions of Prescriptive (cognitive/behavioural) and eight sessions of Exploratory (relationship-oriented) therapy in a crossover design, with each client seeing the same therapist throughout. Outcome was assessed by standard interview and questionnaire methods. The results favoured Prescriptive therapy, although this difference was of moderate extent. The outcome was largely unaffected by the order in which the two methods were offered.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 151 , Issue 6 , December 1987 , pp. 790 - 799
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987 

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