User:GrahameKing/ptdraft2
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[edit] Independent accounts of Primal Therapy results
In an early independent account of the results of primal therapy (published only in Sweden in English), Tomas Videgård[1] reported on a study of a sample of 32 patients treated at The Primal Institute (Janov). Patients entered therapy from December 1975 to May 1976.
Outcome evaluation for the patients:
- 4 Very Good
- 9 Good
- 8 Medium
- 6 Bad (including one suicide)
- 5 Unavailable for post-testing
Patients who did not "finish" the therapy were excluded. Patients in the sample had been in therapy for between 15 and 32 months. Janov now claims that the formal therapy can take significantly longer than this and has never put a time limit on the therapy process overall as it depends on how much Pain the individual has to resolve.
Videgård himself went through the therapy. It should also be noted that the evaluation was based on patients' answers to questions and some projective tests that require interpretation by the tester.
Videgård concluded that therapy at the Primal Institute was marginally better than the Tavistock clinic and markedly better than the Menninger Foundation - the two psychotherapy clinics which he used for comparison.
In recent years, with Arthur Janov's emphasis on the triune brain model, researchers have done studies on physiological outcomes of Primal Therapy including several double blind studies. But it should not be forgotten that Primal Therapy is, first and foremost, an experiential psychotherapy and in Janov's words:
- "Although there are scientific references and citations throughout this work, we should not lose track of the overarching truth - feelings are their own validation. We can quote and cite all day long, but the truth ultimately lies in the experience of human beings. Their feelings explain so much that statistical evidence is irrelevant."
