Dodo bird verdict given new life by psychosis therapy study

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/uom-dbv041015.php

Public Release: 10-Apr-2015
University of Manchester

A study by researchers at The University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool has examined the psychological treatment of more than 300 people suffering from psychosis, showing that, whatever the therapy, it is the relationship between the patient and therapist which either improves or damages wellbeing.

The research relates to one of the more controversial ideas in psychotherapy research - the Dodo bird conjecture. Named after a bird in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which sent several characters on a race and then declared them all winners, this conjecture states that all types of psychotherapy, even though often appearing to be very different from each other, are equally beneficial to patients.

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By using already established rating systems of these relationships and taking data from the earlier study of 308 patients, the researchers found that a good level of therapeutic alliance had a beneficial impact on wellbeing, but where the relationship was poor, the treatment could actually be damaging.

"The implications are that trying to keep patients in therapy when the relationship is poor is not appropriate," Lucy said. "More effort should be made to build strong, trusting and respectful relationships, but if this isn't working, then the therapy can be detrimental to the patient and should be discontinued.

"The study clearly shows that the two types of therapy are equally beneficial to the patient - as long as the trust, shared goals and mutual respect between client and psychologist are in place."