Case Studies Within Psychotherapy Trials: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Much has been written about the basic incompatibility of the dominant quantitative research model in psychotherapy and the qualitative preferences of the practitioner community providing psychotherapy. Researchers and clinicians are at odds over the most valuable type of knowledge needed: that emerging from quantitative, experimental research versus that from qualitative, case-based practice, respectively. Recently, a number of emerging research methods have attempted to bridge and integrate these two approaches. Case Studies within Psychotherapy Trials is one such effort and significantly furthers the synergy between them. The volume provides a comprehensive illustration of the "cases-within-trials" (CWT) model of research. Quantitative findings from four randomized clinical trials (RCT) are synthesized with qualitative and quantitative findings from systematic case studies of successful and unsuccessful clients representatively drawn from each RCT. The book opens with the history of dialectic and political controversy in psychotherapy research and recent initiatives to bridge the differing perspectives. The RCT and case study projects follow, each commented on by outside experts. In the final chapter the editors compare and contrast the separate projects and draw insightful, impactful conclusions. By bringing together quantitative, natural scientific perspectives on research and qualitative, interpretative understandings and strategies, the chapter authors demonstrate how practitioners can be meaningfully included in future psychotherapy research. This book will be of great interest to psychotherapy researchers and practitioners and those interested in research methods in the behavioral sciences more generally.

About the Author :
Daniel B. Fishman, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed, quarterly, online journal Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. Stanley B. Messer, PhD, is Dean of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. He has published extensively on the application of psychodynamic theory and research to the brief and integrative therapies and on the issue of evidence-based practice. David J.A. Edwards, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa (part time). He has been writing on case study research methodology in clinical psychology since 1990 and is a well-known schema therapist. Frank M. Dattilio, PhD, ABPP, is a teaching associate in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and maintains a part-time faculty position with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is known for his work in cognitive-behavioral couple and family therapy.

Review :
"At a time when few would argue that one form of therapy is sufficient to address all problems faced in clinical practice, there is a growing recognition that not one single method of research allows us to capture the complexity of the process of change. Drs. Fishman, Messer, Edwards, and Dattilio provide the field with a sophisticated and innovative actualization of methodological pluralism. Based on studies that cut across treatment models and clinical populations, this book demonstrates how the integration of quantitative findings of randomized trials and qualitative findings of cases taken from such trials can increase the breath, depth, and validity of our understanding of how psychotherapy works. Because it gives researchers an essential map to guide the investigation of therapy and because it offers clinicians new territories of knowledge to explore, it is destined to become a pillar for the future of our scientific practitioner model."--Louis Castonguay, PhD, Penn State University "Brilliantly conceived and executed, Case Studies within Psychotherapy Trials is a refreshing and rigorous demonstration of the mixed-method approach to psychotherapy research. This landmark volume could usher in a new era of psychotherapy research that captures the best features of randomized clinical trials and case studies in which each offsets the limitations of the other and the individual client remains the center of attention."--Tracy D. Eells, MBA, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville "The editors have assembled an exceptionally strong group of authors for this intriguing exploration of how case studies and clinical trials can complement each other. This book stands as a milestone on the road to rehabilitating the case study for scientific research on psychotherapy."--William B. Stiles, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Miami University, and Adjunct Professor, Appalachian State University "The integration of scientific rigor and art of psychotherapy practice has been one of the most important goals in the field of psychotherapy and clinical science. Case Studies Within Psychotherapy Trials is by far the best example that embodies this ideal. Detailed case studies make the findings from RCTs relevant and useful for practitioners while pointing directions for the future research."--Shigeru Iwakabe, PhD, Associate Professor, Human Science Division, Ochanomizu University, Japan "I personally found this an illuminating book. The editors describe the book as a 'proof of concept, ' that is, they hope the book will demonstrate the usefulness of combining RCTs with case studies. It worked for me. I have read many RCTs. I found that the interplay of reading the cases in the context of the results from the RCTs made both more meaningful." --PsycCRITIQUES