Resolving the Personalisation Agenda in Psychological Therapy Through a Biomedical Approach

Background/Objectives—The personalisation agenda—matching the correct psychological therapy to diverse and comorbid mental disorders—is an unanswered dilemma in the worldwide literature which has far reaching consequences for public health. This hypothesis article addresses the question: can a biomedical approach resolve the personalisation agenda? Methods—Narrative review drawing on clinical psychology, translational psychiatry, and biomedical science literature. Results—Diverse attempts to resolve the personalisation agenda have not yet succeeded. Randomised controlled trials are uniquely biased due to unwanted placebo effects; network meta-analysis cannot address adequately which psychological therapy to use; new methodologies have not yet produced data; and neuroscientific analysis cannot yet explain how trauma-based therapies work. However, a biomedical model which divides psychological therapy into low, medium and high intensity interventions can resolve the personalisation agenda. Conclusions—Combining low intensity (placebo), with medium intensity (cognitive behavioural techniques) and high intensity interventions (trauma-based therapies) are theoretically synergistic if combined with psychosocial treatments/exercise, and used in sequence in the correct order. A biomedical model based on recent advances in placebo studies and neuroplasticity can resolve the personalisation agenda, and improve outcomes for mental disorder.