Psychological Science Faculty Publications
CBT for Public Good: Why We Need to Be More Comfortable Using Someone Else’s Toothbrush
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2026
Abstract
The promise of behavior therapy and, later, cognitive behavioral therapy, was to alleviate human suffering by using a scientific approach to better understand how to develop, test, disseminate, and implement sound psychological treatments. As a field, we have seen great success, including the development of an ever-growing list of evidence-based treatments. However, the proliferation of “new” treatments does not seem to be matched by a commensurate growth in the number of people we are effectively able to help. Suggestions for how to address our stalled progress have included intensified efforts at dissemination and a focus on open science and replication. Here I suggest that if we are to make meaningful progress, the type of progress that makes a difference in people’s lives, we must focus more on the why behind what we do—our theories. In particular, I argue that we must focus on formalized theory, but that for this type of work to flourish, we need to redefine and reshape the contingencies in the field of cognitive behavioral science, rethinking our ideas of how success should be defined.
Recommended Citation
Seligman, L. D. (2025). CBT for Public Good: Why We Need to be More Comfortable Using Someone Else’s Toothbrush. Behavior Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2025.08.011
First Page
414
Last Page
426
Publication Title
Behavior Therapy
DOI
10.1016/j.beth.2025.08.011
Comments
© 2025 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.