Remembering the 1978 and 1990 Task Forces on Self-Help Therapies: A Response to Gerald Rosen

Gerald M. Rosen has reminded us of the contributions of two task forces that addressed self-help therapies. The problems with self-administered treatments that were discussed in the recent Journal of Clinical Psychology special section (Volume 59, Number 3) also were discussed by these task forces. One of the primary problems is the lack of quality control and, in particular, the fact that self-help books without empirical support can be marketed to the public. There is not sufficient data available to reach conclusions regarding the overall impact of self-help books. Additional research and empirical support are needed for self-administered treatments: however, requiring such research support prior to publication would be holding self-help books to a higher standard than is currently required for psychologists (and other therapists) providing services. Our belief is that self-administered treatment is at least benign and potentially helpful to most consumers.