In the last two decades, forensic psychotherapy has become a specialised area of scholarship, predominantly in the UK and Germany. However, scientific research with respect to set goals, methods and the application of treatments has been heterogeneous and not very extensive. Focussing on offender treatment, the status quo of research schemes based on clinical experience is discussed, and a strategy is suggested as how to develop a research framework for forensic psychotherapy which makes use of the specific methods and treatment interventions applied in this field. It is concluded that forensic psychotherapy research will greatly benefit from the methodological framework of general psychotherapy research, especially when competing for scarce financial resources.