I believe that the art of psychotherapy is more important than the use of empirically validated treatments (EVT). I believe that the art of psychotherapy exists through the use of common factors, which include the therapeutic relationship, client and therapist factors (e.g., personality), helping clients cope with their problems and hope or expectation factors (Reisner, 2005). Although I believe that empirically validated treatments can improve the therapeutic process, the treatments themselves are by no means the most important or fundamental aspects of therapy. I agree with the idea presented by Allen (2008) that scientific knowledge is important, but it is not enough to achieve positive results in psychotherapy. It seems, at least in my opinion, that developing the relationship with the customer and understanding the customer's point of view is much more of an art, and if this cannot be done successfully, it is unlikely that techniques individualized measures can be applied successfully. did not completely eradicate the art of psychotherapy; However, as additional research reveals that EVT is effective for more disorders, the use of the art of psychotherapy will likely decline. This is believed to be due to managed care preferences for using EVT, as there is evidence that they likely work quickly, saving time and money (Cukrowicz et al., 2005). In order to obtain reimbursement and compete with psychopharmacology, it is increasingly necessary to rely on empirically validated therapy (Reisner, 2005). However, some clever tactics involved in psychotherapy will never be entirely eliminated, such as developing a therapeutic relationship (Allen, 2008). With the rise of EVT, it is possible that mana...... middle of paper ...... generally equal in terms of effectiveness, but in general these are the common factors among therapies that most represent client improvement, not the specific techniques or treatments used (Reisner, 2005). Psychotherapy is arguably an art that cannot be practiced without some sense or understanding of life, meaning, and relationship issues that cannot be learned from science alone (Allen, 2008). Ideally, therapy should involve both science (empirically validated treatments) and art. combining the therapeutic relationship and knowledge of the client's needs with appropriate treatment techniques. Overall, I don't think manual treatments will ever completely replace the art of psychotherapy; However, it is likely that the combination of manual treatments and the art of psychotherapy will lead to better therapeutic results..