Michael J Lambert

Dr. Michael Lambert

Michael J. Lambert, Ph.D. is a professor and holds an Endowed Chair in Psychology at Brigham Young University. His teaching includes classes in psychotherapy, psychotherapy supervision and clinical research methods. He has been in private practice as a psychotherapist throughout his career. His research spans 30 years and has emphasized psychotherapy outcome, process and the measurement of change. He has edited, authored, or co-authored nine academic research based books, and 40 book chapters, while publishing over 150 scientific articles on treatment outcomes. He is the co-author of the Outcome Questionnaire, a measure of treatment effects that is growing in popularity. He has given over 200 presentations across the world, many of them invited addresses.

Dr. Lambert received a Distinguished Career Research Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research. This competitive award recognizes the cumulative scientific contributions and accomplishments over a lifetime. Dr Lambert, in the opinion of the Society’s Board of Directors was well deserving because of his numerous publications and standing as a world leader in psychotherapy outcome research. The Society is an international, multi-disciplinary scientific association dedicated to studying psychological treatments and their effects. Its members include psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health agencies who dedicate themselves to studying psychotherapy in over 30 countries. The award was presented to Dr. Lambert at the annual meetings of the society held in Weimer, Germany in 2003.

Brigham Young University’s highest honor for faculty research, the Maeser Award, was awarded to Dr. Lambert in recognition of his cumulative research accomplishments. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Psychologist Award from Division 29 (psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association, and the Academic Excellence Award from the Utah Psychological Association. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Distinguished Career Research award by The Society of Psychotherapy Research for his lifetime contributions to professional practice. He recently completed a five year appointment as Associate Editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, making editorial decisions on 100 manuscripts per year. In 2004, he edited Bergin and Garfield’s Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, the most authoritative summary of the effects of psychological treatments.

His current program of research focuses on reducing treatment failure and non response through the use of advanced statistical methods and computer applications. In 2003 PacifiCare Behavioral Health honored 100 therapists with a cash award of $1000. The Michael Lambert Award for Excellence in Practice Award recipients were identified based on their patient’s exceptional outcomes. Such as award demonstrates that patient treatment outcomes can be routinely measured and that unusually effective providers can be identified and reinforced for their excellence.