Which Therapy Is Best?

Researchers approach the question of which therapy is best in the context of
specific disorders. No one therapy is recommended for every disorder. For
instance, behavior therapy has proven to be highly successful with phobias,
cognitive therapy shows good results with depression, and a trial of medication
is usual for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

No matter what the presumed cause is of a specific disorder, a common
practice is to provide medication for symptom relief, along with some form
of psychotherapy to improve the person’s condition over the long run.
Sources for Further Study
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders: DSM-IV-TR. Rev. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Author, 2000. The
manual is the official listing of psychological disorders and their diagnostic
criteria. Some of the technical words are not defined, theories are not
discussed, and treatment is ignored. Nonetheless, the reader can gain a
great deal of knowledge about the different forms of psychopathology
and how therapists arrive at diagnoses.
Barlow, David H., and Vincent M. Durand. Abnormal Psychology. 3d ed.
Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Thomson, 2002. This undergraduate textbook
is written for an audience with little or no background in psychology.
The book covers a broad range of psychological disorders and is an
excellent beginning text to learn about the biopsychosocial model of
psychopathology. Hundreds of references are provided.
Kanfer, Frederick, H., and Arnold P. Goldstein, eds. Helping People Change: A
Textbook of Methods. New York: Pergamon General Psychology, 1991. This
is a classic in the field of clinical psychology. It covers many cognitivebehavioral
techniques that are used for an array of psychological disorders.
The target audience is undergraduate and graduate students in psychology
and practitioners who want to learn about this treatment modality.
Each chapter is easy to understand and assumes only a basic
knowledge of therapy and psychopathology.
Millon, Theodore, Paul H. Blaney, and Roger D. Davis, eds. Oxford Textbook of
Psychopathology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. An advanced
textbook for readers who have, at least, a college background in psychology
and basic knowledge of the field of psychopathology. Twenty-seven
chapters, authored by experts, span almost seven hundred pages. Theory
and assessment of disorders is emphasized.
Laurence Grimm and Lindsey L. Henninger
See also: Abnormality: Psychological Models; Cognitive Behavior Therapy;
Cognitive Therapy; Drug Therapies; Psychotherapy: Goals and Techniques. 683