TheSociety for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) is alearned society founded in 1970. It is multidisciplinary, international association for research intopsychotherapy. The idea of an international society of psychotherapists was discussed at an annual meeting of theAmerican Psychological Association in 1968.^[1]

The society haschapters in theUnited Kingdom, the rest ofEurope,Latin America, andNorth America.^[2] The Society for Psychotherapy Research also has what it describes as "Area groups" inAustralia,Italy, and other specific locations.^[2]

Theacademic journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research,Psychotherapy Research, is published bi-monthly byRoutledge.^[3]

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 inSan Francisco in 1968, which was associated to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.^[1] 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 fromLester Luborsky, Nathaniel Raskin, andHans Herrman Strupp.^[1] The first official conference took place inHighland Park, Illinois in 1969.^[1]

As of December 2017, the society consists of four regional chapters, two area groups, and five interest sections.^[2] 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:^[2]

• Australia
• Italy

In addition to the chapters and area groups, there are sections on specific topics that are of interest to members.^[2] 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

The society has approximately 1,100 members worldwide.^{[citation needed]} Membership includes a free subscription toPsychotherapy Research.

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.^[4]

• 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

The past presidents of the SPR have been:^[5][6]

• Evans, C. (2010). "Society for Psychotherapy Research". In Craighead, W. Edward; Weiner, Irving B (eds.).The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology. Vol. 4. New York:John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1658–1659.ISBN 978-0-470-17024-3.
• Orlinsky, David (1995). "The Graying and Greening of SPR: A Personal Memoir on Forming the Society for Psychotherapy Research".Psychotherapy Research.5 (4):343–350.doi:10.1080/10503309512331331456.

• Official website

• Psychology-related professional associations
• Psychological societies
• Psychotherapy organizations
• Organizations established in 1970

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• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017