Paper presents present trends of methods and fields of the research of the psychotherapeutic process. It introduces participative and non-participative tools of measurement used in the research of the psychotherapeutic process. It introduces the type of research „process – outcome research“. It points at the problems of the studied aspects of the therapeutic process, used types of research plans, metaanalyses in that field of study, questions of nonlinearity in the therapeutic process etc. It introduces also the methods of detailed study of the process of psychotherapy, for example study of significant events in the process of psychotherapy. Paper also presents examples of studies of the rising therapeutic change. In conclusion our paper deals with the contribution of the psychotherapy process research for the psychotherapeutic praxis and also with the role of research in psychotherapy generally.

        Key words: psychotherapy, therapeutic process, participative methods, non-participative methods, therapist.