Implementing precision methods in personalizing psychological therapies: Barriers and possible ways forward

Personalization of psychological therapies has always been used by clinicians and describes all efforts to select, adjust, or modify a treatment for the individual to improve outcomes. Precision mental health care approaches can be considered under the umbrella term personalization and specify methods that are algorithmic, quantitative, and empirically derived. Despite a growing research literature demonstrating the efficacy of these approaches, they are rarely tested in clinical practice. A statistically optimized, targeted clinical recommendation is not by itself sufficient to influence clinical practice in a beneficial way; barriers related to dissemination and implementation require increased attention. This article describes clinical and practical factors, technical aspects, statistical considerations, and fundamental contextual issues that should be considered to facilitate data-driven treatments in mental health care contexts in clinical practice. •Personalizing psychological treatments means to customize treatment for individuals to enhance outcomes.•The application of precision methods to clinical psychology has led to data-driven psychological therapies.•Applying data-informed psychological therapies involves clinical, technical, statistical, and contextual aspects.