EMPIRICAL-STUDIES ON PSYCHOTHERAPISTS - WHO ARE WE - WHERE DO WE WORK- HOW DO WE HELP

In the industrialised countries psychotherapy has become an integral c omponent of modern healing. In these societies psychotherapists have t aken over important social and cultural tasks. We therefore begin by d escribing the context in which the knowledge regarding psychotherapy a ccumulated to become a method. Consideration of the implicit, yet cont radictory perspectives that researchers seem to have concerning psycho therapists is necessary in order to elucidate the approaches taken in different studies. After reflection on the social tasks of psychothera py,we go on to review the various studies on psychotherapists and thei r influence on the treatment of the patient. The red th read running t hrough the article is the question of what research-based knowledge re garding psychotherapy can be applied in what way in clinical practice.