The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy: an up-to-date review

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter we provide an updated review on the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy. Evidence for the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy from available randomized controlled trials is presented for various mental disorders. According to the results, there is substantial evidence for the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy in depressive, anxiety, somatoform, eating, substance-related, and personality disorders. Effects of psychodynamic therapy were found to be stable or even increased in follow-up assessments. Evidence suggests that psychodynamic therapy is as efficacious as other treatments that have established efficacy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Further research is required on comparisons of psychodynamic therapy to other treatments (equivalence trials), the treatment of specific mental disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder, and mechanisms of change, as well as on the effects specific to psychodynamic therapy (added value), transdiagnostic and unified protocols, and the question of who benefits most from which treatment.