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Article 1: Weisz, J.R. (January 2014). Building Robust Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents. Perspectives on psychological science, 9(1), 81-84

Abstract: Psychotherapies for children and adolescents have been tested in hundreds of randomized controlled trials across five decades, and many of these youth therapies have now been classified as empirically supported treatments (ESTs). A burgeoning movement is underway to implement these ESTs in clinical practice settings, but questions arise as to whether the treatments are ready for practice and whether they will improve outcomes for clinically referred youths. Our data show ESTs to be more effective than usual care, on average, but only modestly so, and there are troubling exceptions. One reason may be that the design of most ESTs (e.g., single-disorder focus, linear session sequence) does not fit the characteristics of referred youths or clinical practice very well. Indeed, youth psychotherapy research has not focused much on the clients or contexts of actual clinical care. An alternative empirical approach, the deployment focused model, proposes developing and testing interventions with the clients, clinicians, and contexts for which they are ultimately intended. Recent application of the model highlights its potential for stimulating robust treatments that are effective in clinical practice.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. Randomized clinical trials are discussed in this article. Do these trials have effectiveness or efficacy? How do you know?
2. The study does not give many limitations that were faced. Can you identify some limitations that were not mentioned?
3. If an extension of this study were to be completed, what would you suggest they do?
    

Article 2: Post, P.B., Ceballos, P.L., & Penn, S.L. (February 2012). Collaborating With Parents to Establish Behavioral Goals in Child-Centered Play Therapy. The family journal, 20(1), 51-57

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide specific guidelines for child-centered play therapists to set behavioral outcome goals to effectively work with families and to meet the demands for accountability in the managed care environment. The child-centered play therapy orientation is the most widely practiced approach among play therapists who identify a specific theoretical orientation. While information about setting broad objectives is addressed using this approach to therapy, explicit guidelines for setting behavioral goals, while maintaining the integrity of the child-centered theoretical orientation,