‚The facts are always friendly‘ : Wirksamkeit Personzentriert-Experienzieller Psychotherapie und Beratung

Abstract

‘The facts are always friendly’ — Outcome of Person-centered and experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling. Both comparative primary studies as well as large meta-analyses show that the major psychotherapy methods are all similarly effective. In particular, the person-centered-experiential psychotherapy (PCEP) is as effective as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT), especially if the studies take into account the researcher allegiance. This is also demonstrated by many studies of child and adolescent psychotherapy. Person-centered-experiential work may be more effective compared to classically client-centered work. Qualitative studies confirm the person-centered theory of client processes and relativize the focus on symptoms. However, there are now so many disorder-specific person-centered outcome studies that meta-analyses can also indicate disorder-specific outcome measures. Meta-analysis also provide significant outcome scores of person-centered work in fields of application such as filial therapy, motivational interviewing, Gordon training and overall in the school-educational field. Empirical psychotherapy research is historically connected to Rogers and the person-centered concept. His bonmot “the facts are always friendly” identifies him as an
incorruptible researcher. Most CBT researchers are favorable towards PCEP. Limitations of the metanalytical method, especially when selecting the included studies, yield the artifact, one method would be superior.