[Psychotherapy reasearch: a bridge between theory and clinic]

This paper presents a panorama of current developments in psychotherapy research. Starting by an historical brief review of the evolution of this discipline, the two main streams in which this field is nowadays divided are examined. The first one, represented by those who favor the question of efficacy, promotes the development of empirically validated treatments (EVT) based on experimental studies. Conversely, the other one, represented by those who favor effectiveness, argue for the advisability of following a generalizability criteria that attempts to examine the results of psychotherapy in naturalistic contexts.