Center for Psychotherapy Research

The Center for Psychotherapy Research consists of researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Psychology Research Institute at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno. It is dedicated to the implementation of research projects, as well as connecting the world of research and practice in the field of psychotherapy and counselling.

More about the Center

News

22 Mar

What is the purpose of therapists monitoring the process and results of therapy?

We have found that the benefits of using routine outcome monitoring (ROM) systems are manifold. Our meta-analysis of 47 qualitative studies from around the world revealed that they are not only useful for obtaining clinically relevant information about the client. They also help in planning and structuring therapy, facilitate dialogue between the therapist and the client, and help improve the therapeutic relationship. Therapists also reported benefits for the clients themselves: monitoring made it easier for clients to gain insight into their difficulties or served as "confirmation" of perceived change. However, the possibility to adapt the work with the monitoring system to the needs and preferences of the client and the therapist was also an important aspect of using ROM.

21 Mar

Session Reactions Scale-3

We have published an article detailing the development of the Session Reactions Scale-3 (SRS-3), which is also used within DeePsy. The scale is constructed so that each item captures a specific client reaction (or session impact). The reactions themselves were identified from a number of qualitative studies in which clients described in their own words what made the session significant to them. We first developed the scale in English in collaboration with world-leading experts, and then translated it into Czech. It is available in the Resources section.

7 Mar

Clients' negative experiences in psychotherapy (a qualitative meta-analysis)

The qualitative meta-analysis of clients' negative experiences in psychotherapy by Vybíral et al. has already reached more than 10,000 views. It has become the most viewed Psychotherapy Research article in the last year. The authors found 21 categories of negative experiences, which related to (i) therapist professional misconduct, (ii) hindering aspects of the therapeutic relationship, (iii) poor treatment fit, and (iv) negative impacts of treatment. Of course, all of these client complaints cannot automatically be attributed to poorly conducted psychotherapy. Nevertheless, this study opens a valuable 'window' on how therapy may be experienced by clients themselves and why therapeutic efforts sometimes fail.

16 Feb

We host the Society for Psychotherapy Research (EU and UK chapters) conference

The Centre for Psychotherapy Research is involved in the organisation of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (EU & UK chapters) meeting that will be held at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University in Brno in 2024. As usual, this conference will host researchers not only from Europe but also from overseas. Submission portal will be open until the end of April, 2024.