Making Research Relevant

Written for graduate students in mental health programs taking an introductory research methods course, this text shows how research connects to everyday clinical work. It is also meant for working practitioners who want to read studies critically and use findings with the students and clients they serve.

The opening chapters address research ethics and offer guidance on how to evaluate and make sense of published studies. The book then walks through eleven research approaches, covering applied, evaluative, and outcome-based designs, so readers can see which method fits a particular practice question.

To illustrate these ideas, the chapters draw on case examples from a range of settings. Short video lectures present vignettes that help readers apply each method, and the visual material shows how these approaches can inform real decisions in mental health practice.