What Jonathan Shedler thinks about Psychotherapy
Clinical psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF. Author of the 2010 meta-analysis that established psychodynamic therapy as an evidence-based treatment, and a persistent critic of how the phrase "evidence-based therapy" is used.
Jonathan Shedler did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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11 dated positions, 2013 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Jonathan Shedler has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsIt is the unconscious conviction that one is entitled to special compensation in proportion to suffering and victimhood.
↗Masochism: When Suffering Becomes a Way of Lifejonathanshedler.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThe fantasy that suffering is a claim ticket becomes a powerful resistance to psychological change.
↗Masochism: When Suffering Becomes a Way of Lifejonathanshedler.substack.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThis expectation is a vestige of early childhood and the small child's experience of their parents as omnipotent-able to provide whatever is needed to make everything all better.
↗Masochism: When Suffering Becomes a Way of Lifejonathanshedler.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsPsychotherapy cannot help if the participants cannot work together.
↗When the Therapy Relationship Is the Problemjonathanshedler.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsIt is true that a good therapeutic alliance predicts good outcome. But anyone can develop an alliance with someone who can already form good relationships. Measures of the therapeutic alliance may simply be a proxy for the patient's preexisting capacity for healthy relationships.
↗When the Therapy Relationship Is the Problemjonathanshedler.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 5 weeks earlier
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Their wordsWhen patients don't get the help they need, they don't come away thinking, I didn't get good treatment. They come away thinking, I am too broken to be helped. They leave more hopeless and demoralized than when they came. That is harm.
↗When Compromised Care Becomes "Best Practice"jonathanshedler.substack.com
- 5 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThe phrase "your feelings are valid" does not invite curiosity or deeper self-understanding, which is the point of psychotherapy. It is the mirror image of "stop whining and get a grip." One sounds warm and one sounds harsh, but neither deepens self-awareness.
↗Skilled Therapists Don't Say "Your Feelings Are Valid"jonathanshedler.substack.com
- 9 years earlier
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Their wordsThe American Psychological Association (APA) just issued guidelines for treating trauma. Patients and therapists would be wise to ignore them.
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Their wordsIt takes more than 20 sessions, or about six months of weekly therapy, before 50 percent of patients show meaningful improvement. It takes more than 40 sessions for 75 percent of patients to show meaningful improvement.
- 4 years earlier
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Their wordsThe term "evidence-based therapy" is also, de facto, a code word for "not psychodynamic."
↗Evidence-Based Therapy: Science or Marketing?psychologytoday.com
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Their wordsNo research ever suggested that manualized CBT was more effective than psychodynamic therapy. It was just more often researched. There is a world of difference between saying a treatment is less often researched and saying it has been scientifically discredited.
↗Evidence-Based Therapy: Science or Marketing?psychologytoday.com