January 29, 2025

What's the most effective type of therapy? (with Matthew Smout)

1 hour 32 minutes

Read the full transcript here.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? What are the "cognitive" and "behavioral" parts of CBT? What are some of its most common techniques? What are "negative core beliefs"? What does CBT have to say about situations in which problems come from a person's environment rather than from within the person's mind? What makes a particular belief or behavior "good"? How do we know how effective various psychotherapeutic treatments are? How much can we rely on meta-analyses about psychotherapy treatments? Is CBT the most evidence-based psychotherapy treatment? What are CBT's main competitors? Is CBT significantly better than its competitors in all respects, or are there situations in which other treatment types have a significant advantage? How can you figure out exactly what a therapist does when they list a dozen different treatment modalities on their website? Can all treatment modalities be similarly effective if they have the right set of core components? How do antidepressants compare in efficacy to CBT? When should one, the other, or both in conjunction be used to treat a patient?

Dr. Matthew Smout is a clinical psychologist in private practice and the Senior Clinic Supervisor of the University of South Australia Psychology Clinic, where he teaches and trains postgraduate students in clinical psychology. His research interests focus on psychotherapy, especially in making routine practice more effective. He has published on schema therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and the development of questionnaires for evaluating psychotherapy. Email him at [email protected], or learn more about him at his website, drmatthewsmout.com.

Staff