Rebuilding trust in psychotherapy for biologically explained depression: A two-part experimental study examining the...

Biological explanations of mental disorders, which are gaining prominence, can decrease trust in psychotherapy. To rebuild trust, this experimental study tests a psychoeducational intervention targeting misconceptions that (1) psychotherapy cannot change the brain; (2) people rarely have agency over biology while psychotherapy requires agency; (3) psychosocial causes, addressed in psychotherapy, are less probable given biological causes. U.S. adults (N = 602) rated psychotherapy's effectiveness for depression before and after learning about depression's biological causes. Absent any intervention, control-condition participants rated psychotherapy to be less effective post biological-causes-information. However, participants who viewed an intervention video explaining why the misconceptions are flawed judged psychotherapy as more effective even after learning about depression's biological causes. Active-control-condition participants, who viewed a video about psychotherapy's effectiveness, without directly addressing the misconceptions, also increased psychotherapy ratings, albeit significantly less than the intervention group. Approximately four weeks later, intervention-condition participants maintained their enhanced trust, without any reminder of the video, whereas the two control conditions showed reduced trust. The study offers a practical tool for broader public use with a lasting effect.