Grant: Planning Grants

The overall goal of this planning grant proposal is to bring together psychotherapy clinicians, educators, professional organization stakeholders, and researchers to plan the development of a Canadian Psychotherapy Practice Research Network (PPRN). Psychotherapy is a key avenue of mental health treatment for many Canadians. Each year, 3.7% of Canadians 15 years and older (i.e., over 1 million Canadians) see a psychologist or psychotherapist. A large body of research consistently demonstrates positive outcomes for psychotherapy, yet there remains a recognized gap between research and practice. We argue that creating a network of psychotherapists and researchers in Canada who come together to engage in practice-based research will not only lead to the creation of important new research knowledge but will also improve uptake of current knowledge by clinicians and increase clinician interest in knowledge translation (KT). We will achieve the goal of this planning grant by: (1) enlisting 60 to 70 practicing psychotherapists, educators, stakeholder groups, and researchers to join a PPRN; (2) engaging in a deliberative priority setting process with these clinicians, educators, stakeholder groups, and researchers to collaboratively define psychotherapy research priorities for Canadians; and (3) identifying barriers and facilitators to PPRN research in clinical practice. Having clinicians as equal partners in defining research priorities will improve research uptake into clinical practice. Engaging educators and professional stakeholder groups will have an impact on education and professional practice standards. Developing a sustainable PPRN will result in integrated KT and in a practice-based research community that will continue to overcome the barriers to uptake of psychotherapy research into clinical practice.