Season 3 Episode 4: "The Surprising Power of Placebo in Psychotherapy!" - John Kelley, PhD

Dive into placebo effects in psychotherapy, clinical trials, and even conditions like Parkinson’s and Irritable Bowel Syndrom. Can a sugar pill really help someone heal? And what if it’s not just the pill, but the expectation of benefit, that drives the outcomes?

In this episode, Dr. Bruce Wampold sits down with Dr. John Kelley, one of the world’s leading placebo researchers, to explore how belief, expectation, empathy and the therapeutic relationship profoundly influence outcomes in both medicine and psychotherapy. Plus, they unpack a groundbreaking study that not only changed how we think about placebo effects, but how we think about healing itself.

If you’re a clinician, researcher, or just curious about the mind-body connection, this one’s for you.

Featuring: John Kelley, PhD | Deputy Director of the *Program in Placebo Studies & the Therapeutic Encounters, Harvard Medical School; Licensed Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital