DRUGS, RECIPES, BABIES, BATHWATER, AND PSYCHOTHERAPY PROCESS OUTCOME RELATIONS

In their critiques of Stiles and Shapiro's (1994) discussion of the pr ocess-outcome correlation problem, Silberschatz (1994) and Sechrest (1 994) suggested that the problem is not fundamental but merely technica l. Silberschatz suggested that more complex measures would solve the p roblem; Sechrest suggested that more complex analyses would solve the problem. Following Sechrest's multivariate suggestions, however, produ ced no better result. Contrary to Silberschatz's and Sechrest's sugges tions, the problem is not in the measures or the analyses but in the i nterpretation of the results (null results as well as positive results ), particularly in a failure to incorporate fully the phenomenon of re sponsiveness into an understanding of process-outcome relations.