Clinical reports by therapists summarizing treatment of individuals or of a series of patients is basic to sorting out which therapies are of benefit and to understanding how they work.

The difficulty in accepting any individual person's positive response to a treatment as evidence for the efficacy of that treatment are legion. Possible confounding variables that may have contributed to an individual's improvement include: spontaneous waning of symptoms in the normal course of the illness; constitutional or psychological strengths of that particular person that may exceed the average ability to cope with the illness; unknown confounding variables of diet, activity, or other therapeutic interventions; changes in psychological stresses or in social support; and so on.

Yet it is on the basis of anecdotal evidence that initial observations are made that suggest that a new therapy may be helpful.

Anecdotal reports are also essential to appreciating the qualitative aspects of responses to treatment. In addition, anecdotal reports are usually rich in details of a personal nature -- details that tend to be lost when the responses of large numbers of people are statistically analyzed.

Objectivity in observations and reporting are important in sharing results of any treatment. Because it is impossible to be totally objective, it is essential that researchers and clinicians state their beliefs about the subject they are studying so that readers can make whatever adjustments in their judgements necessary to their own beliefs in assessing the value, validity, and relevance of the reports.