Revisiting and reenvisioning the outcome problem in psychotherapy: an argument to include individualized and qualitative measurement.

We review the historical debate about the assessment of psychotherapy outcome, along with the current status of outcome research. Although strides in statistical techniques have allowed us to conclude that psychotherapy is effective, we argue that typical statistical measurement does not allow researchers to demonstrate the complexity of change for individuals. We thus recommend that researchers include individualized and qualitative approaches in their assessments of psychotherapy outcome.