Practice-Based Evidence in the Psychological Therapies Toward Policy Implications for Research, Training, and Clinical Guidelines

by Castonguay, Louis G.; Atzil-Slonim, Dana; Barkham, Michael; Lutz, Wolfgang

• ISBN13: 9780197748305
• ISBN10: 0197748309
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780197748329
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2026-06-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Practice-based evidence refers to research findings derived from clinical routine. As a complementary paradigm to randomized clinical trials, this evidence is collected through practice-oriented research with the goals of describing how mental health services are utilized and implemented, understanding how these services work or fail to work, and providing ways to improve practice. In contrast to traditional trials, practice-oriented research does not impose researcher-driven restrictions or prescriptions to clinical practice, which, for many practitioners, make research irrelevant to their work. By investigating psychological therapies as they are actually conducted in naturalistic settings, practice-oriented research stands as a strategy to foster a seamless integration between science and practice.

In Practice-Based Evidence in the Psychological Therapies, practice-oriented researchers from different parts of the world and across a variety of clinical settings describe what led them to build their research programs, highlight studies they have conducted, and identify implications that can be derived from them. Among the key issues investigated are the effectiveness of treatment, routine outcome monitoring and clinical feedback, variables related to the client and the practitioner, therapist effects, mechanisms of change and therapeutic processes, and the context within which treatment takes place. The book concludes with a list of research, public policy, training, and clinical guidelines that should inform the delivery and investigation of mental health care. This work not only serves as a helpful source of information for practitioners, trainers, and administrators but also illustrates the value of practice-based evidence as a necessary component of the empirical foundations of psychotherapy.

Author Biography

Louis G. Castonguay, PhD, is a liberal arts professor of psychology at Penn State University. His research focuses on factors related to the process, outcome, and training of psychotherapy. He has been involved in practice-research networks and has conducted practice-oriented research aimed at better understanding and improving psychotherapy as practice in natural settings. He has more than 250 publications, including 13 co-edited books.

Dana Atzil-Slonim, PhD, is an associate professor of clinical psychology at Bar-Ilan University, where she serves as the research director of the university's community clinic and leads the Psychotherapy Research Lab. Her research focuses on the intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics that drive therapeutic change, integrating advanced artificial intelligence techniques to enhance precision in the treatment of depression.

Michael Barkham, PhD, is emeritus professor of clinical psychology at the University of Sheffield. He has conducted research on psychological therapies since 1985, particularly on measure development and support for their adoption by practitioners in routine practice. He has been a longstanding advocate for the paradigm of practice-based evidence as a complementary research paradigm to trials-based methods.

Wolfgang Lutz, PhD, is a professor of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at Trier University. He is one of the pioneers of patient-focused feedback research and empirically based personalization of psychological treatments and has worked in this area for more than 30 years using data from routine clinical practice in several countries.

Table of Contents

Preface
About the Editors
Contributors

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: Practice-Based Evidence and Practice-Oriented Research: Setting the Stage for the Expansion of the Scientific Foundations of Psychological Therapies
Louis G. Castonguay, Dana Atzil-Slonim, Michael Barkham, and Wolfgang Lutz

PART I: PRACTICE-BASED EVIDENCE: APPROACHES AND APPLICATIONS

Chapter 2: Practice-Based Evidence as a Cornerstone for Learning Health Systems
Michael Barkham, David Saxon, Nick Firth, and Jaime Delgadillo

Chapter 3: Practice-Based Evidence and Data-Informed Psychological Therapy
Wolfgang Lutz, Miriam I. Hehlmann, Anne-Katharina Deisenhofer, Danilo Moggia, Jana Schaffrath, Antonia Vehlen, Steffen T. Eberhardt, and Brian Schwartz

Chapter 4: Practice-Research Networks: Collaborative Partnerships for the Integration of Science, Clinical Work, and Training
Louis G. Castonguay

SECTION II: PARTICIPANTS AND STAKEHOLDERS: THERAPISTS, PATIENTS, AND USERS

Chapter 5: How the Therapist Matters: Practice-Based Evidence for?Improving Therapist Effectiveness
Helene Nissen-Lie

Chapter 6: Improving Mental Health Care Quality by Leveraging Therapists' Own Practice-Based Evidence
Michael J. Constantino and James F. Boswell

Chapter 7: Collaborating With Patients and Therapists in Practice-Research Networks: The Norse Feedback Action Research Program
Christian Moltu, Heidi Brattland, Samuel S. Nordberg, and Andrew A. McAleavey

SECTION III: THERAPEUTIC CHANGE: PRECISION AND PROCESS

Chapter 8: Leveraging Theoretical and Technological Innovations to Study the Mechanisms That Underlie Therapeutic Change
Dana Atzil-Slonim

Chapter 9: Studying Mechanisms of Change in Practice-Oriented Research Using the Alliance-Outcome Relation as a Point of Departure
Fredrik Falkenström

PART IV: EXTENDING TO SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Chapter 10: Researchers and?Clinicians?Employing Rigorous Methods to Understand and Improve Community-Based Care for Children With Severe Behavioral Challenges
Ann F. Garland and Yesenia Mejia

Chapter 11: The Seamless Integration of Science and Practice in College Student Mental Health: Building Relationships Among Stakeholders to Better Understand and Improve Services
Jeffrey A. Hayes and Louis G. Castonguay

Chapter 12: Practice-Based Evidence Approaches Extend the Benefits of Routine Outcomes Monitoring
Andrew C. Page, Geoff R Hooke, Ashleigh G. Cameron, and Ruby J. Ross

SECTION V: INTEGRATION AND DISSEMINATION

Chapter 13: Psychotherapists Can Improve Their Outcomes and Contribute to Research Using Data They Collect When Providing Measurement-Based Care
Jacqueline B. Persons, Garret G. Zieve, Caroline J. Harris, and Letian Li

Chapter 14: A Clinician-Researcher's Journey Through Routine Outcome Monitoring and Practice-Based Research
Robbie Babins-Wagner

Chapter 15: Expanding the Borders of Practice-Based Evidence:?Meeting Clinical and Population Health Needs in Emerging Economies?
Paula Errázuriz

Chapter 16: Aligning Person-Centered and Systemic Perspectives to Strengthen Measurement-Based Care Evidence
Susan Douglas and Amanda Jensen-Doss

CONCLUSION

Chapter 17: Guidelines Towards Prioritizing Local and National Policies to Promote Practice-Based Evidence
Michael Barkham, James F. Boswell, Dana Atzil-Slonim, Louis G. Castonguay, and Wolfgang Lutz