Psychotherapy in 2022: A Delphi Poll on Its Future

Repeating and expanding Delphi polls conducted during the past 30 years, the authors empaneled 70 psychotherapy experts to forecast psychotherapy trends in the next decade. Mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral, integrative, and multicultural theories were predicted to increase the most, whereas Jungian therapy, classical psychoanalysis, and transactional analysis were expected to decline the most. Technological, self-change, skill-building, and relationship-fostering interventions were judged to be in the ascendancy. Internet programs, telephone therapy, and master's-level professionals were expected to flourish. Forecast scenarios with the highest likelihood centered on expansion of telepsychology, evidence-based practice, pharmacotherapy, and masters-degree practitioners flooding the job market. Four themes seem to be driving these changes: technology, economy, evidence, and ideas.