CHRIS WATT

It has been hailed as the cutting edge of psychology for more than 50 years, with celebrity patients ranging from JK Rowling and Davina McCall to Donny Osmond and Shirley Conran.

But the idea that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is more effective than other treatments may be nothing more than "a myth", experts said yesterday.

Since its inception in the 1950s, CBT - a therapy that encourages patients to control and reject negative thoughts before they cause depression or anxiety - has been the focus of a sizeable proportion of mental health study.

Researchers from Strathclyde University have now warned that this focus may be "irresponsible" and misguided.

The research team said there was a danger that, because more work was being done on CBT than in other fields, people would come to regard it as a panacea for their problems, leaving potentially more valuable treatments underfunded and not researched.

Professors Mick Cooper and Robert Elliott from Strathclyde University, along with American colleagues William B Styles and Art Bohart, said: "The government, the public and even many health officials have been sold a version of the scientific evidence that is not based in fact.

"This is how it works: one, more academic researchers subscribe to a CBT approach than any other; two, these researchers get more research grants and publish more studies on the effectiveness of CBT; three, this greater number of studies is used to imply that CBT is more effective.

"Although CBT advocates rarely make this claim so boldly, their continual emphasis on the amount of evidence is misunderstood by the public, other health care workers, and government officials, a misunderstanding that they allow to stand without correction.

"The result is a widespread belief that no-one takes responsibility for. In other words, a myth."

The experts said the belief has "direct negative consequences for other well-developed psychotherapies, such as person-centred and psychodynamics, which have smaller evidence bases than CBT".

Speaking after the team made their presentation at a conference in East Anglia, Mr Cooper said that CBT's popularity with analysts was understandable, but could mislead the public and raise the expectations of vulnerable people.

The researchers said that studies have suggested it is not the therapy chosen but the patient's level of motivation, participation and ability that makes a difference.

The comments came as the Scottish Government considers the future of mental health work in Scotland.

In recent years £173m has been invested in training CBT therapists south of the border and the researchers fear that this could lead health chiefs to perceive CBT as the only legitimate option for development in Scotland.

Mr Cooper said: "We think it's wonderful that money's being invested in therapy, and CBT is certainly helpful for some people.

"But what we'd like in Scotland is a range of different therapies introduced for people with different psychological needs."