‘A Science More Adequate to the Challenge of the Human Condition’: Boundary Work in Psychotherapy Research

Abstract

Voices within psychotherapy research – the development and evaluation of psychotherapy – have, over the past decades, stressed the need for a paradigm shift. Growing concern with the usefulness and effectiveness of traditional cognitive behavioural therapy has paved the way for new approaches to both mental disorders and psychological interventions. This article examines how a recent psychotherapy movement, Contextual Behavioural Science, employs the discourse of a paradigm shift to establish epistemic legitimacy and situate itself within psychotherapy research. Drawing on Gieryn’s concept of boundary work, I show how the demarcation between old and new science is mobilised in debates about effective psychotherapeutic treatment. A parallel boundary is drawn between research that is too abstract and research that is too technologically focused, reinforcing the distinction between science that is stagnating and science that is future-oriented. I argue that these demarcations – between old and new, abstract and practical – are used in the boundary work of proponents of Contextual Behavioural Science to position it as an epistemically progressive movement capable of resolving the perceived limitations of traditional psychotherapy research.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Social Epistemology, 2026 · DOI ↗