The Elegant Psychosocial Intervention: A Heuristic Conceptual Framework for Clinicians. and Researchers

Controlled efficacy/effectiveness trials throughout the world have reached a high standard from a methodological stance, but what do we regard as the ideal or elegant intervention in clinical psychology? This paper presents six key points as the gold standards of psychosocial interventions by which treatment efficacy/effectiveness research with children, adolescents and adults might be evaluated: (1) Theoretical rationale and conceptualization of clinical dysfunction; (2) Clear problem identification and target client group; (3) Program features such as realistic goal setting, flexibility, and time limited interventions; (4) Manual based treatments; (5) Research support including clinically significant outcomes; and (6) Acceptability/social validation of clients and society. Sound case formulation and therapeutic alliance are crucial to assessment-treatment interface. Finally, we discuss the usefulness of such a framework for mental health professionals and clinical-researchers.