Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design

Abstract

In this article, I outline hermeneutic single-case efficacy design (HSCED), an interpretive approach to evaluating treatment causality in single therapy cases. This approach uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods to create a network of evidence that first identifies direct demonstrations of causal links between therapy process and outcome and then evaluates plausible nontherapy explanations for apparent change in therapy. I illustrate the method with data from a depressed client who presented with unresolved loss and anger issues.