According to the American Psychological Association (APA), evidence-based treatment or practice is the “integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture and preferences.”
APA further describes an EBT as promoting effective mental health practice by “applying empirically supported principles of psychological assessment, case formulation, therapeutic relationship and intervention.”
APA’s policy statement builds on the Institute of Medicine’s 2001 definition of EBTs—“Evidence-based practice is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values”—by deepening the “examination of clinical expertise and broadening the consideration of patient characteristics.”