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Kazdin, 2008
Kazdin, 2008
Alan E. Kazdin
Yale University
The long-standing divide between research and practice in (e.g., Lambert & Ogles, 2004). There is evidence in support
clinical psychology has received increased attention in of many treatments, and this fact alone draws attention to
view of the development of evidence-based interventions whether some treatments ought to be used more than others
and practice and public interest, oversight, and manage- in clinical practice and under what conditions. The discus-
ment of psychological services. The gap has been reflected sion of treatment and the delivery of services has moved
in concerns from those in practice about the applicability into the public domain as part of the larger health-care
of findings from psychotherapy research as a guide to landscape. There is an effort to provide resources that
clinical work and concerns from those in research about inform and make available current evidence-based inter-
how clinical work is conducted. Research and practice are ventions. Indeed, one prominent Internet link alone encom-
united in their commitment to providing the best of psy- passes over 30 federal, state, professional, and university
chological knowledge and methods to improve the quality Web sites that enumerate these interventions (http://ucoll
of patient care. This article highlights issues in the re- .fdu.edu/apa/lnksinter.html). Perhaps the most well-known
search–practice debate as a backdrop for rapprochement. effort is the Web-based resource provided by the Substance
Suggestions are made for changes and shifts in emphases Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (http://
in psychotherapy research and clinical practice. The www.nationalregistry.samhsa.gov). There are also efforts
changes are designed to ensure that both research and among third-party payers and states that may prescribe
practice contribute to our knowledge base and provide what treatments are to be allowed and reimbursed. Re-
information that can be used more readily to improve searchers and clinicians alike see dangers in prescriptive
patient care and, in the process, reduce the perceived and and inflexible treatments. Although it is true that several
real hiatus between research and practice. treatments have empirical research to back them up, is the
Keywords: evidence-based treatment, evidence-based prac- evidence adequate, sufficient, and generalizable to practice
tice, psychotherapy, bridging research and practice situations? Also, who (professionals, managed-care agen-
cies) ought to make the decisions about when the evidence