Practice Without Theory

Usual mental health care in the community is far from optimal. Sufficient evidence exists that dropout rates are significant, treatment is effective for only a small proportion of clients, and the translation of evidence-based treatments to the real world is problematic. Technology has been shown to be helpful in health care for improving the effectiveness of treatment. A relatively new technology being used in mental health is the measurement feedback system (MFS). MFSs are particularly applicable to couple and family psychology because of their ability to provide information on the multiple perspectives involved in treatment. The Contextualized Feedback Systems (CFS), developed at Vanderbilt University, is used as an example of what can be accomplished with an MFS. The advantages and limitations of this technology are described as well as the anticipated reimbursement requirements that mental health services will need.