Best Practices in mental health treatment are evidence-based therapies. For these, research shows superior outcome in comparison to either another established treatment, or to no treatment. The results of a comprehensive and standardized assessment, such as the Voice-DISC, provide the diagnostic guidance for referral to an appropriate evidence-based treatment.

A good model for testing treatment success is available from medication studies, like those relied on by the FDA. When a new medication’s usefulness is being tested, groups of people with the same diagnosis are compared. Typically, one group receives the new medication, another a known medication, and another group will receive a placebo (a pill with no chemical effect, i.e., a sugar pill). A new medicine is considered scientifically effective if people taking it improve more than those taking placebo, or if they improve at least as much as those taking the known medication.

For the most part, however, the effectiveness of psychotherapy has not been established using this type of approach. What findings there are from psychotherapy research have not been well incorporated into clinical practice. Consistently, though, such research shows that treatment is not a “one size fits all” affair: a treatment proven to have benefit for one diagnosis, like depression, does not necessarily work for people with other diagnoses.

There are obvious benefits to using treatments that are proven to be effective. The first step towards implementing effective treatments is accurately identifying someone’s diagnostic status, so that they can be offered the appropriate treatment. In order to help justice agencies match juveniles in their care with effective treatments the Center has developed Guidelines for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Referral