A talking control for use in evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy

► Common factors in psychotherapy are associated with a positive treatment outcome. ► The feasibility of controlling for these common factors is questionable. ► It was feasible to deliver and asses a talking control (TC), to control for common factors in psychotherapy. ► Common and specific factors were compared for a TC and CBT using the cognitive therapy scale. ► Improvements with CBT appear to be related to specific rather than common factors in therapy.