Introduction:

This workshop brings together researchers from clinical psychology, psychotherapy, neuroscience, neuropsychology, and philosophy to open up a wider conversation about the role of the placebo effect in psychotherapy and the consequences of this for patient care.

Research into the placebo effect is emerging at an exciting pace. Whilst numerous definitions of ‘the placebo effect’ have been proposed, none have gained universal acceptance. Medical researchers have proceeded with a working understanding of placebos as “non-specific, beneficial treatment effects” that emerge when patients are given specific medication. For example, pain medication has various “non-specific” factors that can enhance the analgesic effects of the pharmacological treatment: the colour of the pills (red is better than blue), its brand name, its expense, the patients’ expectations, the physician’s communication style, the physician’s prestige and so on. For over eighty years it has been hypothesized that the fundamental engine of all versions of psychotherapy is the placebo effect. However, the vast majority of this research has focused solely on ‘psychodynamic psychotherapy’ (e.g. Freudian approaches), and no systematic ethical analysis of this hypothesis has been undertaken. The central goal of this workshop is to begin to fill this fundamental gap in healthcare ethics. The aim of the research is interdisciplinary: it aims to unite empirical and conceptual work to further our understanding of the role of the placebo effect in all types of psychotherapy. The key themes of the workshop include: (1) What is meant by the term ‘placebo effect’ in psychotherapy? (2) How can psychotherapy be ethically provided given the role that placebo effects has in practice? The workshop will include significant input from empirical researchers. Much empirical work on the placebo effect has so far focused on placebos as pills but for forty years psychologists have been investigating the role of the placebo effect in different versions of psychotherapy. Psychotherapists and patients are ill informed about this research. The workshop will combine empirical work with theoretical questions about what is meant by the term 'placebo'. But the focus of the workshop will be to address fundamental ethical questions that have hitherto been ignored by practitioners and educationalists. These questions include: Should patients be informed about the placebo factors in psychotherapy? How might psychotherapy be better regulated given the evidence for the placebo effect in treatments? These questions are of massive importance to the many millions of people who pay for psychotherapy every year. The workshop will bring together healthcare ethicists, philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and psychotherapists. It will bring together experts in the placebo effect as well as practitioners in order to provide the first interdisciplinary, international collaboration on this topic.