Educational Materials and Image Induction Increase Treatment Credibility

Patient-perceived treatment credibility is linked to important outcome measures including symptom reduction, therapeutic alliance, patient satisfaction, and attrition rates. However, few studies have tested strategies to enhance treatment credibility. The present study investigates the effect of brief, written educational materials and the use of an image induction prime on perceptions of credibility for cognitive behavioral therapy and psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression. Participants (N = 493) rated the perceived credibility of depression treatments before and after reading brief educational materials. Half of the participants were asked an image induction question containing the construct of open-mindedness. Results indicate that brief educational materials of about 300 words significantly increased perceived treatment credibility for both therapies, with a large effect size (Cohen's d = .91). The use of an image induction prime further increased perceived credibility for psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression (Cohen's d = .38). These strategies offer an efficient and cost-effective way to enhance treatment credibility. Future studies testing variations of the image induction prime might prove fruitful for optimizing the technique.