Empirically supported treatments in psychology: Implications for Canadian professional psychology

In this article we examine several interconnected efforts to develop eviden ce-based practice in professional psychology. We first review the American Psychological Association's Division 12 Task Forces' development of criteri a and listings for empirically supported psychological treatments. Next, we present related efforts to develop procedures to identify treatments that have established efficacy and to develop practice guidelines. The possible impact of these initiatives on Canadian professional psychology in the doma ins of training, credentialing, practice, and research are then examined. F inally, we present recommendations for steps that should be taken by Canadi an psychology organizations to respond to these initiatives in order to ens ure that psychological practice in Canada is optimally supported by scienti fic evidence.