Gerald Peterson wrote:
>Here is an interesting article about the problems of evidence-based clinical
>workers. I don't like them calling all therapists psychologists, nor the
>subtitle of psychologists rejecting science, and it's a bit of
>over-simplification, but might be of interest to some. See:
>http://www.newsweek.com/id/216506
>
Having been a counselor/therapist for 33 years, there is lots in this article
to agree with. Many clinicians and physicians do rely more on intuition than
on science in making decisions as to how to treat a client/patient with a
particular disorder (taking into consideration that diagnosis is, itself, not
very scientific in many cases, especially psychology/psychiatry). That being
said, there are manhy of us who do rely on the use of "evidence based
therapies" especially those which are supported strongly by research. In fact,
our beloved insurance companies are beginning to know what kind of therapy is
being used for what diagnosis, and I have heard (anecdotes, to be sure) that
some people have been refused reimbursement if certain therapies are not used
with certain diagnoses. Interestingly (to possibly start a firestorm here) one
of the therapies which has as much or more research than any other is EMDR and
its use in PTSD resulting from a multitude of causes, because w!
e don't know what sense there is behind it that can explain how it might work.
Since I am an advocate of EMDR, have read the research, and have seen the
results with my own clients starting with Vietnam veterans (in my experience
since about 1994, not immediately after the conflict was finally abandoned) I
submit that it is an evidence based therapy and as to how it works, I submit
that we know as much about how it works as we do about how aspirin works.
In sum, not a bad article although it is a bit simplified.
Robert W. Wildblood, PhD
Riverside Counseling Center and
Adjunct at Germanna CC, Fredericksburg, VA
drb...@rcn.com
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wrong with me.
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