There is sometimes a misperception that psychotherapy and evidence-based practice are somehow at odds. Yet, attempts to quantify the effectiveness of psychotherapy date back to the work of Parloff in 1982.1 Since then, there has been a substantial increase in the evidence for psychotherapy with the growing use of randomised control trials (RCTs).2 This method is easiest to apply to treatments such as cognitive-behavioural, interpersonal and dialectical behavioural therapy.2 However, in recent years, there has also been growing evidence for psychodynamic approaches,3 particularly when delivered as short-term therapy.4,5 Even so, there are challenges in conducting randomised control trials of psychotherapeutic treatments of all types.6