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journal article Sep 09, 2019

Targets and outcomes of psychotherapies for mental disorders: an overview

Pim Cuijpers ORCID
World Psychiatry Vol. 18 No. 3 pp. 276-285 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/wps.20661
Abstract
It is not yet clear what mental disorders are and what are the causal pathways that lead to them. That makes it difficult to decide what the targets and outcomes of psychotherapies should be. In this paper, the main types of targets and outcomes of psychotherapies are described, and a brief overview is provided of some of the main results of research on these types. These include symptom reduction, personal targets and outcomes from the patient's perspective, improvement of quality of life, intermediate outcomes depending on the theoretical framework of the therapist, negative outcomes to be avoided, and economic outcomes. In line with the dominance of the DSM and ICD systems for diagnoses, most research has been focused on symptom reduction. This considerable body of research, with hundreds of randomized trials, has shown that for most mental disorders effective psychotherapies are available. There is also research showing that psychotherapies can result in improvement of quality of life in most mental disorders. However, relatively little research is available on patient‐defined outcomes, intermediate outcomes, negative outcomes and economic outcomes. Patients, relatives, therapists, employers, health care providers and society at large each have their own perspectives on targets and outcomes of psychotherapies. The perspective of patients should have more priority in research, and a standardization of outcome measures across trials is much needed.
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Showing 50 of 110 references

Metrics
176
Citations
110
References
Details
Published
Sep 09, 2019
Vol/Issue
18(3)
Pages
276-285
License
View
Authors
P
Pim Cuijpers

Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands

Cite This Article
Pim Cuijpers (2019). Targets and outcomes of psychotherapies for mental disorders: an overview. World Psychiatry, 18(3), 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20661
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