A brief extract from a 2001 PhD Proposal, to demonstrate the impossibility of counselling research ever gaining adequate funding to test counselling systems objectively

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Continued from this page: About the strengths and weaknesses of CBT…

Here is my justification for claiming that counselling research can never be adequately funded…

Jim Byrne, Doctor of Counselling (from the University of Manchester)

Posted on 10th December 2025

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IS RATIONAL-EMOTIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY MORE EFFECTIVE THAN BECKIAN COGNITIVE THERAPY?

A Proposed Contrast-Study,                                                                                               

Utilizing Laboratory-Based Measurement of Physiological Arousal

by

Jim Byrne, MA in Ed. (Open)

May 2001

The University of Leeds

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At the time of presenting my PhD proposal to the University of Leeds in May 2001, the psychology department was going through a major downsizing operation, and there was nobody who could supervise my proposed thesis. I therefore switched my attention to the University of Manchester, and went through a long process of shifting my research focus away from REBT, and into the field of teaching and learning ethical research competence. I completed my doctoral research at the University of Manchester in 2008.

However, I learned a lot about the limited nature of counselling research from my Leeds research proposal.

Two of the main points that I took away were that…

1. An adequate research design, with a physiological measurement of human disturbance – like the technology used by Dr John Gottman in his Marriage Lab at Washington State University – would cost more than anybody would be willing to invest… (See the draft budget below, which suggests a cost of £174.000 GBP for one round of adequate comparison to two systems of counselling and therapy against each other, with a reasonable placebo (“Fun Therapy”)…)
2. That the proposed placebo – “Fun Therapy” – would easily be seen by participants to be the placebo condition, and not the active form, even though Fun Therapy arguably is a potent form of therapy in its own right!

At the time of writing this proposal for the University of Leeds, I was a “mad keen” REBT fan.

Over the next few years, I lost all faith in REBT, as the Albert Ellis Institute became embroiled in a major conflict between Albert Ellis and his supporters (including me) and those who wanted to oust him from office, and prevent him practicing as a therapist.

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Extract from proposal…

11. Timetable and Costing

The timetable for this project (in the form of a Gantt chart) will be produced by me on PC.TeamUp.2 as a consequence of the next stage in planning, which involves listing all the tasks required to produce the outputs shown in Appendix ‘J’.  However, it would be premature to move to that stage prior to getting outline approval for the project as presented.

The production of the project budget also depends on the production of performance plans with detailed task lists.  However, I can venture a rough guestimate, as follows:

Draft Guesstimated Budget

Item	Cost
(1) REBT Group (Max. 50 clients)
Therapist cost (= 6 sessions x 50 clients x £30/session)	£9,000.00
“Fun therapy” placebo cost (= 6 sessions x 50 clients)	£9,000.00
Final 3 sessions (= 3 sessions x 50 clients x £30/session)	£9,000.00
Sub-total	£22,500.00
(2) CT Therapy Group (Max. 50 clients)
Sub-total	£22,500.00
(3) Placebo Group (Max. 50 clients)
Sub-total	£22,500.00
(4) Equipment for lab
Guesstimation	£30,000.00
(5) Equipment for reception (1) and counselling rooms (3)
Guesstimation	£10,000.00
(6) Equipment and materials for researcher’s base room
Guesstimation	£5,000.00
(7) Running Costs
Rent	£10,000.00
Heating	£3,000.00
Lighting	£2,000.00
Telephone	£2,000.00
Printing	£4,000.00
Stationery	£3,000.00
Advertising	£5,000.00
Sub-total	£29,000.00
(8) Staffing Costs
(a) Administrator	£15,000.00
(b) Technician	£17,500.00
Sub-total	£32,500.00
GRAND TOTAL (guesstimate)	£174,000.00

For a full copy of this (dated, antiquated, outdated, beyond redemption, no longer actively pursued proposal) please send a fee of £10.00 GBP to Dr-Jim-2024@proton.me at PayPay, and then email the same address with your details, and I will send the Word document to you.