Comment on Hansen et al.: Would the Results Be the Same if Patients Were Receiving an Evidence-Based Treatment?

The poor response to psychotherapy reported by Hansen et al. (this issue) is inconsistent with the substantial database supporting the efficacy of psychological interventions. One observation that may explain the lack of treatment response in their study is the fact that most patients received less than five sessions of treatment. Clearly, one would not expect a significant clinical effect when an insufficient dose of therapy is administered. In light of this finding, an essential question emerges: Why did patients terminate treatment so early? In this article, I speculate that the lack of use of evidence‐based treatments in the field may account for the discrepancy between data reported by Hansen et al. and those from clinical trials.