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San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group

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Founded in 1972 by Joseph Weiss, MD and Harold Sampson, PhD, SFPRG is a non-profit membership organization focused on developing a coherent theory of how psychopathology develops and how psychotherapy works. As Weiss developed his hypotheses, SFPRG designed and carried out rigorous scientific studies to empirically test and refine them (an overview of much of this research can be found here, here, and in this article published in Scientific American here). Control-Mastery Theory, the model Weiss developed, is an integrated cognitive-psychodynamic-relational psychotherapy model.  It is not a particular technique or new brand of treatment.  Rather, it is an evidence-based model that explains how psychotherapy works and why various therapeutic interventions can be helpful to some patients and detrimental to others.

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San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group
1008 General Kennedy Avenue
San Francisco, CA  94129
(415) 561-6771