The Pennsylvania practice research network and future possibilities for clinically meaningful and scientifically rigorous psychotherapy effectiveness research

This article describes the development and implementation of the Pennsylvania Practice Research Network for facilitating psychotherapy research in the naturalistic setting. The methods and results from this phase I pilot project provide a basis for discussing the limitations that characterize effectiveness investigations, why they are insufficient for answering society's questions about therapy effectiveness, but why they are useful for establishing a preliminary infrastructure upon which to base subsequent, scientifically rigorous phase II investigations that can markedly increase our empirical and applied knowledge about psychotherapy. Finally, the problems and obstacles discovered in this pilot investigation and possible ways of overcoming such impediments are discussed.