Bridging Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychotherapy: Directions for Research

Abstract

Child and adolescent psychotherapy research has advanced in the past decade in terms of the number of controlled outcome studies and evidence attesting to the effectiveness of alternative forms of treatment. Therapy research with children has lagged behind research with adults, as reflected in the types of questions that are asked about treatment and the methods available to permit in-depth study of the treatment process. This article advocates efforts to build bridges between adult and child psychotherapy. The advantages of developing these bridges are to deepen our understanding of child and adolescent treatment, to provide a developmental perspective relevant to both child and adult therapy, and to identify broader models of change among children, adolescents, and adults. Three areas of research in adult therapy are used to illustrate the potential benefits of bridging adult and child therapy and include research on client and therapist variables, therapeutic processes, and models of change.