These findings are both interesting and provoc-
ative. This survey, however, is limited in a number
of respects, and we must be cautious in our general-
izations. For example, few respondents reported
severe psychopathology (e.g., schizophrenia), and
reports were both retrospective and based solely on
the clients’self-reports. In addition, the percentage
of potential respondents who returned the survey
was relatively low, raising the possibility of an unrep-
resentative sample. Further, readers of this publica-
tion may not be particularly representative of the
general U.S. population. Despite these limitations,
theConsumer Reportssurvey provides some support
for the contention that psychotherapy works. It
represents the largest study to date that has assessed
“the effectiveness of psychotherapy as it is actually
performed in the field with the population that actu-
ally seeks it, and it is the most extensive, carefully
done study to do this”(Seligman, 1995, p. 971).Evidence-Based Treatment and Evidence-Based Practice
Many other studies have been conducted to deter-
mine whether psychotherapy works and also,BOX11-1 Clinical Psychologist Perspective: Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D.Martin E. P. Seligman is the Zellerbach Family Professor
of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a
leading authority on learned helplessness, explanatory
style, and optimism and pessimism. He has published
25 books and more than 250 scholarly articles on
motivation and personality. Over the last 30 years of
his research career, he has received support from the
National Institute of Mental Health, the National Insti-
tute of Aging, the National Science Foundation, the
Guggenheim Foundation, and the MacArthur Founda-
tion; in 1991, he won the coveted Merit Award from
the National Institute of Mental Health. His colleagues
have recognized his achievements by presenting him
with prizes such as the Zubin Award of the Society for
Research in Psychopathology, the William James Fellow
Award of the American Psychological Society, and two
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards from the
American Psychological Association. Dr. Seligman
recently served as president of the American Psycho-
logical Association.
The central theme of Dr. Seligman’s work has
been recognizing our explanatory style—what we say
to ourselves when we experience setbacks—and how it
influences our lives. He has identified effective tech-
niques to transform negative thoughts and unlearn
helplessness and to rise above pessimism and the
depression that may accompany these negative
thoughts. With years of research behind him, he has
demonstrated how we can boost our moods, and
immune systems, with healthful thoughts. InWhat You
Can Change and What You Can’t(Seligman, 1994),he pinpoints what techniques and therapies will work
best to effect change and also identifies what condi-
tions we should stop trying to change.The Optimistic
Child(Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, & Gillham, 1995), pre-
sents research he and his colleagues have done to show
how depression in children can be prevented. They
propose a program that parents and educators can use
to identify the danger signs of pessimism in children
and teach them the skills of thinking optimistically. His
most recent book,Flourish(2011), details the Positive
Psychology movement, of which he is a founder.Martin E. P. SeligmanDr. Martin E.P. Seligman, Psychology Dept., Univ. Penn314 CHAPTER 11