Studien uber Psychotherapeutinnen und Psychotherapeuten: Wer sind wir? Wo arbeiten wir? Wie helfen wir?

In the industrialised countries psychotherapy has become an integral component of modern healing. In these societies psychotherapists have taken over important social and cultural tasks. We therefore begin by describing the context in which the knowledge regarding psychotherapy accumulated to become a method. Consideration of the implicit, yet contradictory perspectives that researchers seem to have concerning psychotherapists is necessary in order to elucidate the approaches taken in different studies. After reflection on the social tasks of psychotherapy, we go on to review the various studies on psychotherapists and their influence on the treatment of the patient. The red thread running through the article is the question of what research-based knowledge regarding psychotherapy can be applied in what way in clinical practice.