Expertise of Clinical Psychologists in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in South Korea : Research Competence

Abstract

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the treatment option with strong empirical evidence for use with various mental illnesses. As in many other countries, such as the U.S. and the U.K, it has recently been announced that CBT will be covered by the National Health Insurance Benefit in Korea, allowing many people with mental illness to receive CBT at a minimum cost. However, the expertise of CBT providers has not been understood and highlighted in the policy. The current study aimed to investigate the research competence of clinical psychologists as the most well-trained CBT providers by quantitatively analyzing the number of primary authors (1st or corresponding authors) of peer-reviewed research articles about CBT outcome trials published in Korea. Among a total of 112 outcome studies and 50 Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) studies finally selected, the highest portion of the primary authors of CBT outcome trials in Korea were clinical psychologist (54.5%), followed by psychiatrists (8.9%) and counseling psychologists (2.7%). The results were also maintained for CBT RCT (e.g., clinical psychologists [58.0%]). The results demonstrate the research competence of Korean clinical psychologists and their leading role in CBT outcome trials. Future directions for mental health policy on CBT are discussed.