Personal epistemic orientation and psychological therapy outcomes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Knowing what we know(?): How does epistemic orientation and trust influence CBT therapy outcomes?
IRAS ID
355704
Contact name
M Yusuf Rasul
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 9 days
Research summary
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychological therapy that understands psychological distress as being associated with negative beliefs/thinking patterns and unhelpful behavioural responses. Clients of CBT are prompted to reconsider how they know these beliefs using techniques which can be considered as epistemological practices. Epistemology is defined as the theory of knowledge, that is how do we know what we know? Personal epistemic orientation is how an individual processes and prioritises different types of information which informs their thinking patterns and beliefs. Meanwhile, CBT is based on a rationalist-empiricist epistemic orientation which means that it prioritises rational (i.e. logical) and empirical (i.e. from observation) ways of knowing in order to challenge a client's negative beliefs.
This study aims to explore how clients’ epistemic orientations influence therapy outcomes. The study also looks at whether the client’s trust in knowledge and information sources (i.e. epistemic trust) affects therapy outcomes. Furthermore, it will investigate whether the similarity between clients’ and therapists’ epistemic orientations influences therapy outcomes, and whether epistemic trust explains or changes the relationship between thinking styles and treatment results. The overall aim is to explore how differences in ways of knowing and trusting knowledge affect how people benefit from CBT, which could help tailor treatments better in the future.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SC/0184
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion