Christopher Perry

4/25/2015
Psych211
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is defined as therapy for psychological problems. There are many types of
therapy one can take but the branch of psychology that focuses on diagnosing and treating
psychological problems is known as Clinical psychology. Although there are multiple types of
therapy it may be confusing when seeking for help. Which one should you take if you need help?
And does psychotherapy really work or are you better off without it? This has been in question
for a long time amongst researchers and therapists. At the University of Colorado, researchers
Mary Lee Smith and Gene Glass wanted to figure just that out.
Smith and Glass were interested in trying to fill in this gap in research and informing
people what psychotherapy they should take. According to Roger R Hock, author of, Forty
Studies That changed Psychology, they had three goals. Their first was to identify and collect
studies that tested the effects of counseling therapy. Their second was to determine the
magnitude of the effect of therapy in each study. And last but not least, to compare the
outcomes of different types of therapy. (Hock, 2013, 257). Their hypothesis was that after their
meta-analysis, psychotherapy would be show effective, as well as differences of effectiveness
between the various methods would be apparent.
To test this hypothesis Smith and Glass collected all studies recent to the time on
psychotherapy effectiveness and then reanalyzed them. They selected 357 studies and performed
a new type of research method developed by glass know as meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is a
statistic method for contrasting and combining results from different studies in hope of
identifying patterns among study results.

Each study that was examined consisted of an experimental group, that received
psychotherapy, compared with a control group that received a different type of therapy or no
therapy at all. The Independent variable was whether the study consisted of psychotherapy or
not. Their dependent variable was the magnitude of the effect of therapy. An example of these
measurements were reductions in anxiety, improvements in school work and general life aspects.
Smith and Glass came up with three different results. Their first result consisted of the
comparison between treated participants and non-treated. The average client receiving therapy
was better off than 75% of the untreated controls (Hock, 2013, 258). Secondly they compared
the various measures of effectiveness across all studies. So for example across all studies 75%
had an overall adjustment after therapy and 65% had a better adjustment in their school work.
The third results they compared the various psychotherapy methods. Of 7 different
psychotherapy methods, they all ranged from the lowest of approximately 70% and a high of
80% effectiveness.
Smith and Glasss finding were very important because they demonstrated that
psychotherapy or any therapy, in general, were effective than no treatment at all. But they also
demonstrated that the differences among the types of therapies are insignificant. They concluded
three things. The first conclusion Smith and Glass had was that psychotherapy works. Second,
Unconditional judgments of the superiority of one type or another of psychotherapy are
unjustified. (Hock, 2013, 260). The last conclusion they had was their study was a step in the
right direction for solving research using similar techniques deserves further attention. Overall
their findings were very important because they not only remove temptation for people to try and
prove one therapy better but also lets people know that therapy should always be sought. People

can understand this study in the sense that therapy is better than no therapy and no one should be
afraid to seek it.
It is actually very important to seek help, however many people dont and it has become a
concerning problem. According to Lea Winerman (2005), Dozens of studies and surveys over
the past decades have shown that men are less likely to see help than woman (57). Even for all
sorts of problems such as depression, substance abuse and stressful life events. Lea thinks that
the reasons they dont seek help could include men following social norms, as well as them
playing the masculine role society has put on them. One way we can start to convince men to
seek help could be to convince them first that the things they need help with are normal. In fact
psychology has begun to do just that.
No one should in general should be afraid to seek help for their problems because therapy
has come a long ways. According to Saundra and Noland, authors of Psychology: Third Edition
(2014), the first ever attempt to help mentally ill people began in England during the sixteenth
century. Treatments actually consisted of beatings, ice baths, and induced vomiting (575).
Thanks to Philippe Pinel in 1792, he began to make efforts to treat mentally ill people with
kindness and guidance which was known as moral treatment.
After reading this research study I have concluded I will personally not avoid to seek
help. I also think that this is an important information to hold and to pass onto others. Especially
other male friends and family. Knowing that men do not seek help is a sad fact. My father is a
heavy smoker and has talked multiple times about quitting. It makes me wonder if he really
wants to seek help but thinks it really wont help or he would be afraid to. In lighter note, I was
very proud of my sisters fianc who recently had a drug problem. He has sought help through
group counseling and currently attends meetings every so often. From what I have observed it

has been very effective and not only has it improved himself but his relationship and our familys
relationship. This is prime example to use towards others and myself that therapy can truly help
and it should always be sought in a similar situation.

Works Cited

Hock, R. (2009). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of
psychological research (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
White Noland J. & Saundra k. Ciccarelli. (2014). Psychology 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson.
Winerman, L. (2005, June 1). Helping men to help themselves. Monitor on Psychology, 57-57.