For years, my colleagues and I have been using the phrase “practice-based evidence” to refer to clinicians’ use of real-time feedback to develop, guide, and evaluate behavioral health services. Against a tidal wave of support from professional and regulatory bodies, we argued that the “evidence-based practice”–the notion that certain treatments work best for certain diagnosis–was not supported by the evidence.

Along the way, I published, along with my colleagues, several meta-analytic studies, showing that all therapies worked about equally well (click here to access recent studies children, alcohol abuse and dependence, and post-traumatic stress disorder). The challenge, it seemed to me, was not finding what worked for a particular disorder or diagnosis, but rather what worked for a particular individual–and that required ongoing monitoring and feedback.  In 2006, following years of controversy and wrangling, the American Psychological Association, finally revised the official definition to be consistent with “practice-based evidence.” You can read the definition in the May-June issue of the American Psychologist, volume 61, pages 271-285.

Now, a recent report on the Medscape journal of medicine channel provides further evidence that practice-based evidence is going mainstream. I think you’ll find the commentary interesting as it provides compelling evidence that an alternative to the dominent paradigm currently guiding professional discourse is taking hold.  Watch it here.