Guidelines for Classifying Evidence-Based Treatments in Couple and Family Therapy

• Published in: Family process 2011-09, Vol.50 (3), p.377-392
• Main Authors: SEXTON, THOMAS, GORDON, KRISTINA COOP, GURMAN, ALAN, LEBOW, JAY, HOLTZWORTH-MUNROE, AMY, JOHNSON, SUSAN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative Approaches; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical medicine; Couple Therapy; Couples; Couples Therapy - classification; Debates; Drug use; Evidence Based Practice; Evidence-Based Medicine; Evidence-Based Treatments; Family counseling; Family psychotherapy. Systemic therapy; Family Therapy; Family Therapy - classification; FDA approval; Humans; Intervention; Marital psychotherapy; Medical sciences; Policy Making; Practice Guidelines as Topic - standards; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapies. Psychological and clinical counseling; Sociocultural Factors; Task forces; Therapists; Therapy; Transportation; Treatment Methods; Treatments
• ISSN: 0014-7370; 1545-5300
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01363.x

Guidelines for Evidence‐Based Treatments in Family Therapy are intended to help guide clinicians, researchers, and policy makers in identifying specific clinical interventions and treatment programs for couples and families that have scientifically based evidence to support their efficacy. In contrast to criteria, which simply identify treatments that “work” and have been employed in the evaluation of other psychotherapies, these guidelines propose a three‐tiered levels‐of‐evidence‐based model that moves from “evidence‐informed,” to “evidence‐based,” to “evidence‐based and ready for dissemination and transportation within diverse community settings.” Each level reflects an interaction between the specificity of the intervention, the strength and readth of the outcomes, and the quality of the studies that form the evidence. These guidelines uniquely promote a clinically based “matrix” approach in which the empirical support is evaluated according to various dimensions including strength of the outcomes, the applicability across cultural contexts, and demonstration of specific change mechanisms. The guidelines are offered not only as a basis for understanding the evidence for diverse clinical approaches in couple and family therapy within the systemic tradition of the field, but also as an alternative aspirational model for evaluating all psychotherapies. RESUMEN En la terapia familiar, las pautas para los tratamientos basados en la evidencia tienen como fin contribuir a orientar a los clínicos, los investigadores y los responsables políticos a la hora de reconocer intervenciones clínicas específicas y programas de tratamientos para parejas y familias que cuentan con evidencia basada en datos científicos para respaldar su eficacia. A diferencia de los criterios que simplemente reconocen tratamientos que “funcionan” y han sido utilizados en la evaluación de otras psicoterapias, estas pautas proponen un modelo de evidencia en tres niveles que va de “fundado en la evidencia” a “basado en la evidencia” y a “basado en la evidencia y listo para la difusión y el traslado en distintos entornos comunitarios”. Cada nivel refleja una interacción entre la especificidad de la intervención, la solidez y la amplitud de los resultados y la calidad de los estudios que constituyen la evidencia. Estas pautas promueven de forma excepcional un modelo “matriz” con fundamentos clínicos en el cual se evalúa el respaldo empírico de acuerdo con varias dimensiones, por ejemplo, la sol