According to research on the comparative effectiveness of psychotherapeutic techniques, which statement best reflects current scientific consensus?

• A. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is significantly more effective than all other forms of psychotherapy for every disorder.
• B. Humanistic therapies consistently outperform behavioral therapies in treating anxiety disorders.
• C. Most major psychotherapeutic approaches produce similar outcomes for most psychological disorders.
• D. Only psychodynamic therapy has been shown to be effective in controlled research studies.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the context of the question, which is about the comparative effectiveness of different psychotherapeutic techniques based on current scientific research.
2. Step 2: Recognize that research in psychotherapy often compares outcomes across various therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), humanistic therapies, behavioral therapies, and psychodynamic therapy.
3. Step 3: Recall the 'Dodo bird verdict' in psychotherapy research, which suggests that most major psychotherapeutic approaches tend to produce similar outcomes for a wide range of psychological disorders, rather than one being universally superior.
4. Step 4: Evaluate each statement in the problem by comparing it to this consensus: CBT is not significantly more effective than all others for every disorder; humanistic therapies do not consistently outperform behavioral therapies for anxiety; psychodynamic therapy is not the only effective approach.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the statement reflecting the scientific consensus is that most major psychotherapeutic approaches produce similar outcomes for most psychological disorders.