The current emphasis on identifying empirically supported treatments (ESTs) can distort psychotherapy research by emphasizing the investigation of treatment in an atypical context, with atypical patients, in a contrived treatment contract. An alternative to comparing the efficacy of different types of therapeutic techniques for treating focal symptoms is to seek to identify the factors that facilitate therapeutic change in various types of therapeutic intervention. The emphasis on identifying ESTs also has the potential for distorting clinical training and limiting clinicians' ability to develop the skills necessary for becoming effective therapists.