Commentary: What young people want from psychotherapy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research
• Youth Mental Health

Background:

• Growing recognition of the importance of lived experience in psychotherapy research.
• Young people's perspectives are crucial for developing effective psychotherapies.
• Professional agendas may limit the scope of current research evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for the inclusion of young people's priorities in psychotherapy research.
• To shift evaluation indicators from solely psychiatric symptomatology to include subjective wellbeing.
• To emphasize the need for tailoring psychotherapy to youth needs and evaluating meaningful change.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on psychotherapy research with youth.
• Analysis of the limitations of traditional evaluation indicators.
• Synthesis of subjective indicators identified from research with young people.

Main Results:

• Current psychotherapy research often overlooks the priorities of young people.
• Evaluation indicators need to extend beyond symptom reduction to encompass subjective wellbeing.
• Key indicators for youth wellbeing include emotional acceptance, identity, relational trust, and agency.

Conclusions:

• Psychotherapy research must incorporate young people's subjective experiences and priorities.
• Evaluation metrics should reflect what truly matters to young people for meaningful change.
• Tailoring psychotherapy and its evaluation to youth needs is vital for effectiveness.