Gyani, A;
Shafran, R;
Myles, P;
Rose, S;
(2014)
The Gap Between Science and Practice: How Therapists Make Their Clinical Decisions.
Behavior Therapy
, 45
(2)
pp. 199-211.
10.1016/j.beth.2013.10.004.
Preview |
Text
Shafran_Behavior Therapy Paper Second Revision with ID.pdf - Accepted Version Download (564kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Recent surveys have found that many patients are not receiving empirically supported treatments and that therapists may not update their knowledge of research. Studies have found that therapists prefer to use their clinical experience rather than research findings to improve their practice, although cognitive behavioral (CB) practitioners have been found to use research more frequently than therapists of other theoretical orientations. The organization in which therapists work has been shown to impact attitudes toward working practices, but studies have not examined whether workplace requirements to use research affect therapists’ practice. Studies to date have mainly been conducted in North America. These findings may not be generalizable to the United Kingdom where there is a National Health Service (NHS), which requires the use of empirically supported treatments. The first part of this study aimed to investigate which factors were influential in therapists’ choice of theoretical orientation and to see whether CB practitioners differed from other therapists in the factors that influenced their choice of theoretical orientation. The second part tested whether therapists’ theoretical orientation or their workplace influenced the frequency with which they used research in their clinical decision-making. The final part investigated whether being a CB practitioner or working in the NHS was associated with having a favorable attitude toward research. An online survey was sent to 4,144 psychological therapists in England; 736 therapists responded (18.5%). Therapists reported that research had little influence over their choice of theoretical orientation and clinical decision-making compared to other factors, specifically clinical experience and supervision. CB practitioners and NHS therapists, regardless of their orientation, were significantly more likely to use research than other therapists and were more likely to have a positive attitude toward research.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Gap Between Science and Practice: How Therapists Make Their Clinical Decisions |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.beth.2013.10.004 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.10.004 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | evidence-based treatments, research, sources, cognitive behavioral therapy, dissemination |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10103063 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
