Abstract
Cross-Cultural and International Extensions of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy: Toward More Effective and Sensitive Psychological Services Everywhere
J. G. Draguns
A brief overview is provided of the current state of the efforts to extend the relevance and application of Evidence-Based Treatments (EBT) beyond the Euro-American milieus in which EBTs originated. In the multicultural settings of North America, meta-analyses have demonstrated superior outcomes for culturally adapted psychotherapies as compared with the standard, unmodified versions of the same services. In particular, the key components of effective psychotherapeutic interventions such as empathy, therapist-client relationship, and therapeutic alliance appear to be promising objects for further investigation. Internationally, psychotherapy is widely applicable and effective, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been extensively studied in multicultural settings in the US, and its investigation in Japan and elsewhere in East Asia has been initiated. Future developments are envisaged in applying EBTs to locally developed and practiced therapies and in continuing to modify imported therapies to fit local needs and meet local expectations. The eventual goal is to answer the question, "What works with whom on a worldwide basis?" and thereby establish a specific empirical link between psychotherapy and culture.

Key words: cross-cultural, international, evidence-based psychotherapy, evidence-based treatments (EBT)