Let’s Clearly Distinguish Evidence-based Practice and Empirically Supported Treatments

ABSTRACT Evidence based practice [EBP] has had a strong influence on social work practice, research, and education. EBP is a multi-step process for health care decision making which includes relevant research findings in treatment planning together with the client’s preferences and clinical expertise. An empirically supported treatments [EST] is a designation for treatments for a given disorder that have met specific standards for research quality. ESTs are often part of the EBP process but are not identical to it. This article reports results from a review of relevant 200 articles from the Social Work Abstracts database, showing social workers fail to distinguish the two concepts, and often fail to define them fully and clearly. More published reports conflate ESTs with EBP than correctly distinguish the two concepts. Recommendation to strengthen future social work publications, practice and education are offered.