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Problems with the use of placebo conditions in psychotherapy research, suggested alternatives, and some strategies for the pursuit of the placebo phenomenon

✍ Scribed by T. D. Borkovec; Nicholas J. Sibrava


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2005
Tongue
English
Weight
97 KB
Volume
61
Category
Article
ISSN
0021-9762

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✦ Synopsis


Due to the numerous conceptual, methodological, and ethical problems that are associated with placebo conditions in psychotherapy research, their use should be abandoned, and more powerful therapy outcome designs (dismantling, additive, parametric, and catalytic) that can contribute to basic knowledge through their ability to isolate specific cause-andeffect relationships are recommended. On the other hand, if indeed the placebo effect is a reliable phenomenon, it would be wise to pursue its causal mechanisms, and some research strategies for initiating such pursuit are briefly described.