When Does Therapy “Work”? Measuring the Immeasurable

--Media Links--• Website: delvepsych.com• Instagram: @delvepsychchicago• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DelvePsych20• Substack: https://delvepsych.substack.com/--Participants--Hosts: Ali McGarel, Adam Fominaya--Overview of Big Ideas--Ali and Adam tackle the deceptively simple question, “How do we know if psychotherapy is working?” They explore the tension between scientific measurement and human experience—how therapy outcomes resist clean quantification, and how psychology’s methods often rest on value judgments rather than objective truths. Adam shares his evolving skepticism toward traditional measures like depression scores, questioning whether they capture anything “real.” Together, they wrestle with the institutional, philosophical, and ethical implications of trying to prove psychotherapy’s worth—while acknowledging that real change is still felt deeply in the therapy room.--Breakdown of Segments--• Opening reflections on science vs heart in therapy• Why psychology struggles to measure “real” outcomes• Constructs, validity, and the limits of objectivity• How “values judgments” sneak into definitions of health and success• The difference between feeling better and being well• The field’s bias toward legitimizing itself rather than questioning itself• Acknowledging the tension between subjective evidence and genuine transformation• Closing quote: “Obsessing about why is an abandonment of what is” — exploring when curiosity turns into avoidance--References--• Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281–302.• Wampold, B. E., & Imel, Z. E. (2015). The Great Psychotherapy Debate: The Evidence for What Makes Psychotherapy Work. Routledge.• Bohart, A. C., & Tallman, K. (2010). Clients: The neglected common factor in psychotherapy. In The Heart and Soul of Change: Delivering What Works in Therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.