Methodological Problems in Psychotherapy Research: Observations on the Karon-VandenBos Study of Psychotherapy and Drugs in Schizophrenia

¹ Clinical Director and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, The Neuropsychiatric Institute, California State Department of Mental Hygiene, and University of California at Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, California 90024, U.S.A.
² Chief, Clinical Projects Section, Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, 5454 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chose, Maryland 20015, U.S.A.

Clearly, the questions in which Dr. Karon and his associates seem to be interested, are indeed crucial for a better understanding of the determinants of change in psychotherapy and drug therapy in schizophrenic patients. But we feel that the presently confused and chaotic state of psychotherapy research demands greater care in conducting new studies and more critical and conservative reporting of them. Although most clinical research in psychotherapy, including our own, cannot escape some criticism and some weakness, we feel that there are certain flaws that should not appear in good research, because they either invalidate the data or create a great deal of confusion in the literature.