The need for empirically supported psychology training standards

Abstract

The scientific method makes many important contributions to society. It is on this basis that psychology training standards require universities to teach empirically supported psychotherapy methods to students. A logical extension of this premise is to apply the scientific method to the standards themselves. This article describes the need for empirically supported psychology training standards supported by well-designed studies which can demonstrate that individuals who receive training based on specific standards are more effective in their subsequent work than individuals who do not receive the training. Relevant studies published so far do not support the efficacy of current psychology standards. Future studies could use a variety of research designs to evaluate specific training standards. The conclusions of this study extend to training standards in the fields of psychotherapy and counselling.