Society for Psychotherapy Research


The Society for Psychotherapy Research is a learned society founded in 1970. It is multidisciplinary, international association for research into psychotherapy. The idea of an international society of psychotherapists was discussed at an annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in 1968.
The Society has in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, Latin America, and North America. The Society for Psychotherapy Research also has what it describes as "Area groups" in Australia, Italy, and other specific locations.
The academic journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Psychotherapy Research, is published bi-monthly by Routledge.

Aims and history

SPR encourages the development of research on psychotherapy as well as aims to support and enhance both the empirical basis and applied value of research on psychotherapy. Psychotherapy research is stimulated, for instance, by providing small research grants for pilot studies which, in turn, enable researchers to later obtain larger grant funding. The society also plays an important role in providing opportunities to psychotherapy researchers for interaction and dialogue by organizing regular meetings to enable communication about research, share methodological innovations, and disseminate research findings and knowledge of their applications. It makes use of print and electronic media to disseminate the results of psychotherapy research and to share ideas related to research methods.
The creation of a Society for Psychotherapy Research goes back to a meeting of psychotherapy researchers in San Francisco in 1968, which was associated to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. This meeting was sponsored by small donations of the APA Division of Psychotherapy and the American Academy of Psychotherapists. The founders of the group were Kenneth I. Howard and David Orlinsky, with support from Lester Luborsky, Nathaniel Raskin, and Hans Herrman Strupp. The first official conference took place in Highland Park, Illinois in 1969.

Organization

As of December 2017, the society consists of four regional chapters, two area groups, and five interest sections. The regional chapters are:
In some areas, there are many active SPR members and local meetings are organized. The area groups are:
In addition to the chapters and area groups, there are sections on specific topics that are of interest to members. As of December 2017, there are five special interest sections:
The society has approximately 1,100 members worldwide. Membership includes a free subscription to Psychotherapy Research.

Annual meetings

The international annual meetings take place at the end of June and have been organized since 1970. All scientific programs of the meetings are available online, back to the year 1972.

List of international annual meetings

The past presidents of the SPR have been:
1970-791980-891990-992000-092010-19
1970 Kenneth I. Howard1980 Mardi J. Horowitz1990 Horst Kächele2000 Robert Elliott2010 Lynne Angus
1971 David E. Orlinsky1981 Stanley D. Imber1991 Lorna Smith Benjamin2001 Franz Caspar2011 Guillermo de la Parra
1972 Hans Herrman Strupp1982 Alan S. Gurman1992 Leonard M. Horowitz2002 Karla Moras2012 George Silberschatz
1973 Lester Luborsky1983 Arthur H. Auerbach1993 David A. Shapiro2003 Mark Aveline2013 Hadas Wieseman
1974 Allen E. Bergin1984 A. John Rush1994 Clara E. Hill2004 John Clarkin2014 Jeanne Watson
1975 Sol L. Garfield1985 Jim Mintz1995 Klaus Grawe2005 Michael J. Lambert2015 J. Christopher Perry
1976 Aaron T. Beck1986 Larry E. Beutler1996 Paul Crits–Christoph2006 Erhard Mergenthaler2016 J. Christopher Muran
1977 Morris B. Parloff1987 Larry E. Beutler1997 William B. Stiles2007 Jacques Barber2017 Paulo P. Machado
1978 Irene Elkin1988 Charles R. Marmar1998 Marvin R. Goldfried2008 Bernhard Strauß2018 Mariane Krause
1979 Edward S. Bordin1989 Leslie S. Greenberg1999 William E. Piper2009 Louis G. Castonguay2019