Power therapies

Power Therapies is a term coined by professor Charles Figley, Florida State University Traumatology Institute, to group several novel treatments of post traumatic stress. Described this way, due to the apparent ability of these methods to work so rapidly compared to other methods at the time, Figley aimed to identify the "active ingredients" of these therapies — EMDR, TFT, EFT, VK/D, and TIR.[1]

Contents

Examples

Examples of such treatments (in alphabetical order) are:

Empirical testing

EMDR

Main article: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

To date there is little evidence for the efficacy of several of these power therapies. The EMDR Institute maintains a thorough list of research studies on EMDR.[4] Critics of EMDR argue that the eye movements do not play a central role, that the mechanisms of eye movements are speculative, and that the theory leading to the practice is not falsifiable and amenable to scientific enquiry.[5] However, the issues concerning research involve some controversies not addressed in this article.

VK/D

According to a review by Dietrich et al.,

"the available evidence suggests TIR, the TRI Method, and V/KD are effective treatments for posttraumatic sequelae." [...] "Rigorous studies need to be conducted and replicated using comparison groups to demonstrate that the identified treatment is equivalent to another “well-established" treatment or superior to medication, psychological placebo or other treatment. Scientist-practitioners are encouraged to take an active role in this line of enquiry and to conduct research with combined components, using good experimental designs and standardized approaches."[6] However, as Grant Devilly states that VKD, a technique derived from Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has not yet been presented for peer review.[7]

Criticism and Controversy

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Figley, C. R. (1997, December). The active ingredients of the Power Therapies. Paper presented at the Conference for the Integrative and Innovative Use of EMDR, TFT, EFT, Advanced NLP, and TIR, Lakewood, CO.
  2. ^ Shapiro, F. (2001) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Second Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. The Guilford Press; 2 edition.
  3. ^ Michael Lamport Commons (2000) The Power Therapies: A proposed mechanism for their action and suggestions for future empirical validation Vol.VI,2,5
  4. ^ EMDR Institute (2007) References. http://www.emdr.com/refs.htm
  5. ^ Herbert JD., Lilienfeld SO., Lohr JM., Montgomery RW., O'Donohue WT., Rosen GM., Tolin DF. (2000) 'Science and Pseudoscience in the development of eye movement and reprocessing: Implications for Clinical Psychology'. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol.20, No.8, pp945-971, 2000 doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00017-3
  6. ^ Dietrich, AM., Baranowsky, AB., Devich-Navarro, M., Gentry, JE, Harris, CJH., Figley, CR., (2000) A Review of Alternative Approaches to the Treatment of Post Traumatic Sequelae Traumatology Volume VI (4,2)
  7. ^ Devilly, Grant J. (2005) "Power Therapies and possible threats to the science of psychology and psychiatry", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 39, No. 6, June 2005, pp. 437-445(9)

References