Kenneth I. Howard

Kenneth Irwin Howard (born October 19, 1932 in Chicago , Illinois ; † October 19, 2000 there ) was an American psychotherapy researcher and psychotherapist . He was mainly known for his research into dose-response relationships in psychotherapy .

Scientific career

He began his scientific career in 1956 when he began studying psychology at the University of Chicago .

His interest in psychotherapy was aroused by attending an event held in 1950 by Carl Rogers at the University of California, Berkeley . Although Carl Rogers worked at the University Counseling Center there when Howard was a student in Chicago, he was more interested in psychological research methodology, with quantitative methods, research design, measurement and statistics. He began his research career in a research project on street work with delinquent young people.

Howard moved to Northwestern University in Evanston , Illinois , as a professor . There he taught and researched for over 32 years. His publication output is substantial, with over 175 book chapters, articles, and research tools.

Scientific contributions

Generic Model of Psychotherapy

Together with David E. Orlinsky (1987, German 1988), he developed the so-called Generic Model of Psychotherapy from a series of reviews of the scientific literature on empirical psychotherapy research . This formalized the current state of research on the connections between the therapeutic process and the therapeutic outcome.

Dose-response models

In the mid 1980s, Howard initiated the Northwestern Chicago Psychotherapy Research Program . By raising government research funds from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a research infrastructure was established that made it possible to collect data from over 16,000 patients. This is one of the first psychotherapy studies with such a large sample.

The dose-response models were initially developed using data from published studies. On the basis of 15 already published studies with a total of 2431 patients, Howard et al. (1986) examined the relationship between the number of therapy sessions (dose) and the result (symptoms improved or not improved). Using statistical models, they were able to show a relationship between dose and effect similar to that of logarithmic curves: the greater the number of sessions, fewer and fewer patients benefit from the improvement in symptoms. These models were checked and further refined using the data from the Chicago study. Howard and colleagues (1993) were able to show that the improvement curves were basically found again. In addition, they identified differences in the improvement at different levels of outcome: general mood reacted fastest, followed by improvements in psychopathological symptoms (e.g. anxiety, depression), and personality deficits or social problems react slowest.

Patient Focused Research

The dose-effect relationship was used by Howard et al. (1996) to calculate statistically expected improvement curves and normal limits around these curves. This can be understood analogously to the normalization of a psychological test: A measured value (here a series of measured values) is checked for “normality” or significant deviations using comparative samples. If a patient's symptoms do not improve as quickly (after as many sessions) as in most treatments, then a warning signal can be generated.

Importance of the research

The work, especially on dose-response relationships, has gained considerable importance for the design of psychotherapy in various health systems. In the USA, a large number of MHOs ( Mental Health Organization ) use further developments in patient profiling , which means that the development of symptoms is continuously recorded via monitoring. The question of the appropriate dose of psychotherapy has an impact on the number of sessions that health insurances pay for. In Germany, a research project was carried out by the Techniker Krankenkasse that tried to establish a model of feedback on therapy results as an alternative to the usual expert practice (an expert decides on the number of psychotherapy sessions to be paid for by the health insurance fund ). The continuation of Howard's models was carried out as a psychotherapy researcher in the USA primarily by Michael J. Lambert and in Germany by the working groups around Hans Kordy and Wolfgang Lutz .

Foundation of the Society for Psychotherapy Research

Ken Howard and David E. Orlinsky are the initiators of the founding of the international scientific research society Society for Psychotherapy Research (see Orlinsky, 1995). Howard was its first president from 1970 to 1971. In doing so, he has made a significant contribution not only in terms of content, but also socially to the establishment of scientific psychotherapy research.

Awards

• 1995: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge from the American Psychological Association
• 1994: Award for Outstanding Contribution to Professional Psychology from the Illinois Psychological Association
• 1990: Distinguished Research Career Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research
• 1991–1996: Senior Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health

Works

• DE Orlinsky, KI Howard: A generic model of psychotherapy. Journal of Integrative and Eclectic Psychotherapy, 6 (1), 1987, pp. 6-27.
• DE Orlinsky, KI Howard: A General Model of Psychotherapy. Integrative Therapy, 14 (4), 1988, pp. 281-308.
• KI Howard, RJ Lueger, MS Maling, Z. Martinovich: A phase model of psychotherapy outcome: causal mediation of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 61 (4), 1993, pp. 678-685.
• KI Howard, K. Moras, PL Brill, Z. Martinovich, W. Lutz: Evaluation of psychotherapy. Efficacy, effectiveness, and patient progress . American Psychologist, 51 (10), 1996, pp. 1059-1064.

Literature on AI Howard

• Larry E. Beutler, David Orlinsky: In Memorial: Kenneth I. Howard, 1932-2000. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 57 (1), 2001, pp. 1-2.
• David Orlinsky: The Graying and Greening of SPR: A Personal Memoir on Forming the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Psychotherapy Research, 5 (4), 1995, pp. 343-350, doi : 10.1080 / 10503309512331331456

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary at the Society for Psychotherapy Research
2. ↑ Quality monitoring study by the Techniker Krankenkasse. ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 26, 2011 
3. ↑ Michael J. Lambert, Jason L Whipple, Eric J. Hawkins, David A. Vermeersch, Stevan L. Nielsen, David W. Smart: Is It Time for Clinicians to Routinely Track Patient Outcome? A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10 (3), 2003, pp. 288-301, doi : 10.1093 / clipsy.bpg025
4. ^ Hans Kordy, Wolfgang Hannöver, Matthias Richard: Computer-Assisted Feedback-Driven Quality Management for Psychotherapy: The Stuttgart-Heidelberg Model. In: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 2001, pp. 173-183. (Abstract)
5. ^ Robert Percevic, Michael J. Lambert, Hans Kordy: Computer-supported monitoring of patient treatment response. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2004, pp. 285-299. (Abstract)
6. ↑ Wolfgang Lutz, Niklaus Stulz, Zoran Martinovich, Scott Leon & Stephen M. Saunders: Methodological background of decision rules and feedback tools for outcomes management in psychotherapy . Psychotherapy Research, 19 (4-5), 2009, pp. 502-510, doi : 10.1080 / 10503300802688486
7. ^ Past Presidents of the SPR. Retrieved September 21, 2011