The Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) is a learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...

 founded in 1970. It is multidisciplinary, international association for research into psychotherapy

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...

. The idea of an international society of psychotherapists was discussed at an annual meeting of the American Psychological Association

American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...

 in 1968.

The Society has chapters in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the rest of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The Society for Psychotherapy Research also has what it describes as "Area groups" in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and other specific locations.

The academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

 of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Psychotherapy Research

Psychotherapy Research

Psychotherapy Research is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in all fields of psychotherapy: outcome, process, education and training of therapists, as well as investigations of services. It is published by Routledge on behalf of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. The...

, is published bi-monthly by Routledge

Routledge

Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...

.

Aims and history

The aims of the society are: to encourage and to improve scientific research on psychotherapy; to foster the transfer of research findings into practice; and to support the dialogue between scientists and practitioners. The Society organizes 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, Nathanael Raskind, and Hans Strupp. The first official conference took place at Highland Parks, Illinois in 1969.

Organization

The society consists of 4 regional chapters, 4 area groups, and 2 interest sections. The regional chapters are:

• Europe
• Latin America
• North America, including Australia and Taiwan
• United Kingdom

In some areas, there are many active SPR members and local meetings are organized. The four area groups are:

• Australia
• Italy
• Mid Atlantic
• Ohio

In addition to the chapters and area groups, interest sections on specific topics that are of interest to members exist. Currently, there are two special interest sections:

• Culture & Psychotherapy: this section aims to promote awareness and advance scientific understanding of the social and cultural contexts of psychotherapy, their influence upon therapeutic processes and outcomes and their role in shaping the varied forms that psychotherapies have taken in different societies. One of the activities of this group is a large collaborative international study of psychotherapists.
• Psychotherapy & Training

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.

Presidents

The current president (2011/2012) is Guillermo de la Parra (Pontificia Universidad Católica). Past presidents 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
1972 Hans Herrman Strupp Hans Herrman Strupp Hans Hermann Strupp was born in Frankfurt, Germany and died in the U.S.A. He moved from Nazi Germany to the U.S. and he pursued a PhD in Psychology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. where the Department of Psychiatry granted him with a Certificate in Applied Psychiatry for...	1982 Alan S. Gurman	1992 Leonard M. Horowitz	2002 Karla Moras	2012
1973 Lester Luborsky Lester Luborsky Lester B. Luborsky was one of the founders of scientific research in psychotherapy.Luborsky was born and raised in Philadelphia. He graduated from Philadelphia Central High School and then earned his bachelors degree at Pennsylvania State University....	1983 Arthur H. Auerbach	1993 David A. Shapiro	2003 Mark Aveline	2013
1974 Allen E. Bergin Allen Bergin Allen Bergin is a clinical psychologist known for his work on psychotherapy values. His 1980 article on theistic values was ground-breaking in the field and elicited over 1,000 responses and requests for reprints, including luminaries such as Carl Rogers and Albert Bandura...	1984 A. John Rush	1994 Clara E. Hill	2004 John Clarkin	2014
1975 Sol L. Garfield	1985 Jim Mintz	1995 Klaus Grawe	2005 Michael J. Lambert Michael J. Lambert Michael J. Lambert is a psychology professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in mood measuring and behavior change...	2015
1976 Aaron T. Beck Aaron T. Beck Aaron Temkin Beck is an American psychiatrist and a professor emeritus in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is widely regarded as the father of cognitive therapy, and his pioneering theories are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression...	1986 Larry E. Beutler Larry E. Beutler Dr. Larry E. Beutler, PhD, ABPP is a clinical psychologist.-Biography:Dr. Beutler received his PhD from the University of Nebraska and subsequently served on the faculties of Duke University Medical Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Arizona...	1996 Paul Crits–Christoph	2006 Erhard Mergenthaler	2016
1977 Morris B. Parloff	1987 Larry E. Beutler Larry E. Beutler Dr. Larry E. Beutler, PhD, ABPP is a clinical psychologist.-Biography:Dr. Beutler received his PhD from the University of Nebraska and subsequently served on the faculties of Duke University Medical Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Arizona...	1997 William B. Stiles	2007 Jacques Barber	2017
1978 Irene Elkin	1988 Charles R. Marmar	1998 Marvin R. Goldfried	2008 Bernhard Strauß	2018
1979 Edward S. Bordin	1989 Leslie S. Greenberg	1999 William E. Piper	2009 Louis G. Castonguay	2019