The Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) is a learned society founded in 1970. It is multidisciplinary, international association for research into psychotherapy. The idea of an international society of psychotherapists was discussed at an annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in 1968.
The society has chapters in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, Latin America, and North America. The Society for Psychotherapy Research also has what it describes as "Area groups" in Australia, Italy, and other specific locations.
The academic journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Psychotherapy Research, is published bi-monthly by Routledge.
Aims and history SPR encourages the development of research on psychotherapy as well as aims to support and enhance both the empirical basis and applied value of research on psychotherapy. Psychotherapy research is stimulated, for instance, by providing small research grants for pilot studies which, in turn, enable researchers to later obtain larger grant funding. The society also plays an important role in providing opportunities to psychotherapy researchers for interaction and dialogue by organizing regular meetings to enable communication about research, share methodological innovations, and disseminate research findings and knowledge of their applications. It makes use of print and electronic media to disseminate the results of psychotherapy research and to share ideas related to research methods.
The creation of a Society for Psychotherapy Research goes back to a meeting of psychotherapy researchers in San Francisco in 1968, which was associated to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. This meeting was sponsored by small donations of the APA Division of Psychotherapy and the American Academy of Psychotherapists. The founders of the group were Kenneth I. Howard and David Orlinsky, with support from Lester Luborsky, Nathaniel Raskin, and Hans Herrman Strupp. The first official conference took place in Highland Park, Illinois in 1969.
Organization As of December 2017, the society consists of four regional chapters, two area groups, and five interest sections. The regional chapters are: Europe Latin America North America United Kingdom In some areas, there are many active SPR members and local meetings are organized. The area groups are: Australia Italy In addition to the chapters and area groups, there are sections on specific topics that are of interest to members. As of December 2017, there are five special interest sections: Child, adolescent, and family therapy research Culture and psychotherapy Therapist training and development Case study interest group Complexity science in psychotherapy
Members The society has approximately 1,100 members worldwide. Membership includes a free subscription to Psychotherapy Research.
Annual meetings The international annual meetings take place at the end of June and have been organized since 1970. All scientific programs of the meetings are available online, back to the year 1972.
List of international annual meetings 2026: 57th International Annual Meeting, Osaka, Japan (upcoming) 2025: 56th International Annual Meeting, Kraków, Poland 2024: 55th International Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada 2023: 54th International Annual Meeting, Dublin, Ireland 2022: 53rd International Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, USA 2021: 52nd International Annual Meeting, Heidelberg, Germany 2020: 51st International Annual Meeting, Amherst, MA, USA 2019: 50th International Annual Meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2018: 49th International Annual Meeting, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2017: 48th International Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada 2016: 47th International Annual Meeting, Jerusalem, Israel 2015: 46th International Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, USA 2014: 45th International Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark 2013: 44th International Annual Meeting, Brisbane, Australia 2012: 43rd International Annual Meeting, Virginia Beach, USA 2011: 42nd International Annual Meeting, Bern, Switzerland 2010: 41st International Annual Meeting, Asilomar, CA, USA 2009: 40th International Annual Meeting, Santiago de Chile 2008: 39th International Annual Meeting, Barcelona, Spain 2007: 38th International Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, USA 2006: 37th International Annual Meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland 2005: 36th International Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada 2004: 35th International Annual Meeting, Rome, Italy 2003: 34th International Annual Meeting, Weimar, Germany 2002: 33th International Annual Meeting, Santa Barbara, CA, USA 2001: 32nd International Annual Meeting, Montevideo, Uruguay 2000: 31st International Annual Meeting, Blumingdale, IL, USA
Presidents The past presidents of the SPR have been:
1970–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–19 1970 Kenneth I. Howard 1980 Mardi J. Horowitz 1990 Horst Kächele 2000 Robert Elliott 2010 Lynne Angus 1971 David E. Orlinsky 1981 Stanley D. Imber 1991 Lorna Smith Benjamin 2001 Franz Caspar 2011 Guillermo de la Parra 1972 Hans Herrman Strupp 1982 Alan S. Gurman 1992 Leonard M. Horowitz 2002 Karla Moras 2012 George Silberschatz 1973 Lester Luborsky 1983 Arthur H. Auerbach 1993 David A. Shapiro 2003 Mark Aveline 2013 Hadas Wieseman 1974 Allen E. Bergin 1984 A. John Rush 1994 Clara E. Hill 2004 John Clarkin 2014 Jeanne Watson 1975 Sol L. Garfield 1985 Jim Mintz 1995 Klaus Grawe 2005 Michael J. Lambert 2015 J. Christopher Perry 1976 Aaron T. Beck 1986 Larry E. Beutler 1996 Paul Crits–Christoph 2006 Erhard Mergenthaler 2016 J. Christopher Muran 1977 Morris B. Parloff 1987 Larry E. Beutler 1997 William B. Stiles 2007 Jacques Barber 2017 Paulo P. Machado 1978 Irene Elkin 1988 Charles R. Marmar 1998 Marvin R. Goldfried 2008 Bernhard Strauß 2018 Mariane Krause 1979 Edward S. Bordin 1989 Leslie S. Greenberg 1999 William E. Piper 2009 Louis G. Castonguay 2019 Bruce Wampold 2020 - 2020 Martin grosse Hothford2021 Shelley McMain2022 Wolfgang Lutz2023 Andres Roussos2024 Shigeru Iwakawe
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