"Evidence-based therapy" is a branding term rather than a scientific one, and in practice it is a code word for "not psychodynamic".

SubjectsPsychotherapy Psychodynamic therapy CBT

What these subjects mean

Psychotherapy Treatment by conversation between a therapist and a patient, and the arguments about what in it actually does the work.

Psychodynamic therapy The tradition descended from psychoanalysis: open-ended sessions working on self-knowledge and the therapy relationship, rather than a manual.

CBT Cognitive behavioural therapy: brief, structured, usually delivered from a manual, and the most heavily trialled form of talking treatment.

Mental modelsWhat counts as evidence, Active ingredients, not brands

On the topicWhat makes psychotherapy work?under our view: The evidence behind the recommended methods is narrower than the label on them suggests

What Jonathan Shedler actually said

Jonathan Shedler 2 Oct 2013 Clinical psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF

The term "evidence-based therapy" is also, de facto, a code word for "not psychodynamic."

↗Evidence-Based Therapy: Science or Marketing?psychologytoday.com
2 Oct 2013

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Eye movement reprocessing went from alternative to establishment, and moving your eyes while talking about a trauma does seem to help you process it.

Shedler says "evidence-based therapy" is a branding term that in practice means "not psychodynamic". Alexander describes EMDR moving from alternative to establishment and says moving your eyes while talking about a trauma does seem to help. EMDR is a case where the label travelled, and the two accounts of why it travelled are not the same.

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