The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy - Essay Example This in turn would help promote psychotherapy. In 1995, it was determined that professionals should be trained exclusively in the use of Empirically Supported or Validated Therapies. This move was given a push when the American Psychologists Association (APA) published the first of its task force reports. Since then Empirically Validated Therapy (EVT), Empirically Supported Therapy (EST), and Evidence Based Practice (EBP), refers to therapeutic treatments which are deemed empirically sound and valid, by a particular research methodology. Thus these therapies or treatments can be officially used in the psychotherapy. This however implied that those therapies which do not make the list are not empirically valid and these alternative methods of treatment are therefore considered irrelevant. This stirred up a hornet's nest in the world of psychotherapy and was the beginning of a controversy which persists even today. The Empirically Validated Treatment movement brought about a split between psychotherapists, i.e. those who saw thems elves as scientists and those who saw themselves as practitioners. a science, it deals with human emotions which vary a great deal from person to person and hence a humanistic psychodynamic approach has to be used which is tailored to individual clients. If this is the case then most of their techniques would not validated by the strict research methodology put forward for Empirical validation. Today, the controversy continues as the psychotherapists challenge the traditional methods of research and expose unsubstantiated assumptions on which this research is based and therapies accepted as Empirically Validated/Supported Therapies. Arguments for the Empirically Validated/ Supported Treatment It is important to know why and how the Empirically Validated/Supported Treatment came into being. The American Psychiatrists Association developed the Empirically Validated Treatment (EVT). These were mostly medications and validation methods favoring biological treatment approaches. This is when the American Psychologists Association decided to develop their own EVT. The psychologists did not like the idea of research proving therapy or the claim that the success of a therapy could be proven. Since validated could mean proven, they changed the terminology to EST, i.e. Empirically Supported Treatment. The arguments for having EST in psychotherapy are extremely valid and relevant. 3 1. Psychotherapy is a Science: Psychotherapists have always been considered scientists and psychotherapy a science. However science demands empirical validation of theory. Thus it is maintained that only effective psychotherapy which is supported by empirical proof should be considered for treatment. It is inconceivable that physicians would conduct experimental treatments without the consent of patients or that FDA would approve medicines without proof of their efficacy and knowledge of side-effects. To the scientific committee it is therefore shocking that there is no way of determining what is and what is not effective psychotherapy. Hence for psychotherapy to remain in the realms of science it is necessary that ESTs be used in the clinics. 2. Protection of Patients: In the 1970's and 80's there were a multitude of psychotherapy

Sobey's Distribution Department Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sobey's Distribution Department - Case Study Example The following discourse focuses on Sobey in terms of the probable applicability of technology to improve its operations. Introduction E-commerce can be done in two ways. The first is a case in which a company produces goods and services that can be exchanged online. These include such goods as computer software and even books, commonly referred to as e-books. In such transactions, the buyer contacts a seller mainly through the seller’s website and places an order for the given product. After this, the buyer is directed on how to make the payment. This is done online too with the buyer offered a dialogue box in which he enters his credit or debit card number. The card must, in this case, be globally recognized. The transaction takes place in the major currencies which in most cases is the American dollar. After entering the card number, an amount that is the price of the product is deducted. Thereafter, the buyer is allowed to download the product. This is an entirely online pr ocess with the two parties requiring no physical contact (Stefan, Christ and Jochen, 2008). The other model involves the basics of the transaction being done online such as in marketing. In this case, the client and the buyer meet online and the buyer gets to the goods specifications in which he is interested. After this, the buyer makes the payment as would be the company policy and waits for the seller to deliver the goods. This takes place when the goods can not be physically exchanged. Sobeys, given its business nature, thus belongs to the second category. It would only carry out extensive marketing and some of the most basic transactions online. However, the remaining part of the transactions would require physical contact between the seller (Sobey) and the buyers. Primary Data Through interviews and observation of the firm operations, it became eminent that the store has a wide customer base and has in the past placed in place strategies that aim to increase its sales. Some of these include product promotions and some other value added services. Sobeys is a chain distribution department with presence in all the provinces of the country and has two hundred branches currently. It majors in the sale of grocery and other fundamental house wares. The use of ICT is appreciated in the firm as the company has a website and is at advance stage of launching on-line transactions with its clients. The use of social sites such as facebook and twitter is rife as the company runs several accounts and fun pages with which it keeps contact with some of its esteemed customer. They have used the on-line platform to carry out market researches and this has played a part in their determination of yet some newer locations of expansion. From the study on how the store uses technology, the following were determined: Key characters and the difficulties they currently face Among some of the key personalities of the firm is the president who also sums up as the chief executive off icer of the firm. Currently, this position is held by William Bill Mc Ewan. Given the fact that firm has a presence throughout Canada, communication and information flow has proved to be a challenge to its operations. This is a challenge which is well understood by the organization’s CEO. For instance, there are several incidences and transactions always warrant his presence or authorization but due to the job’s nature, the president can not always oversee all these in person. Consequently, he normally delegates some of these