It's the Relationship That Matters Most in Therapy

"Research shows that strong relationships are what make therapy effective; however, marketing often obscures this fact. This can have significant effects. Marketing for therapy has become its own industry and sometimes offers different ideas about what helps people. On therapist websites or social media, you might see phrases like "evidence-based," " trauma-informed," or " attachment repair." Each group of therapists highlights its scientific side, but research often tells a more complex story."

"Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was promoted as modern, scientific, and efficient, unlike older therapies that focused on childhood. The main idea was to change thoughts to change feelings, which appealed to insurers and policymakers. But the data is more complicated. CBT yields outcomes comparable to those of other therapies, such as psychodynamic or humanistic therapy (Wampold et al., 2017). While many different therapies are also effective, CBT is not uniquely superior; both its marketing and accessibility have contributed to its dominance."

Marketing and branding often overshadow research about what actually helps in therapy. Therapy marketing has become an industry that promotes buzzwords like "evidence-based," "trauma-informed," and "attachment repair," which can obscure nuanced research findings. Decades of research indicate that many evidence-based therapies produce similar outcomes and no single branded method is consistently superior. CBT was marketed as modern and efficient, contributing to its dominance, but outcomes are comparable to psychodynamic and humanistic therapies. The quality of the therapeutic relationship, rather than specific brands or techniques, most strongly predicts positive change. Groups of therapists emphasize scientific credentials, creating competing narratives about healing.

Read at Psychology Today