Power therapies

Power Therapies (also known as alphabet therapies) is a term coined by professor Charles Figley, Florida State University Traumatology Institute, to group several novel treatments of post traumatic stress. Figley aimed identify the "active ingredients" of these therapies — EMDR, TFT, EFT, VK/D, and TIR.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.]

Examples

Examples of such treatments (in alphabetical order) are:
* Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), a psychotherapeutic tool based the idea that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body's energy field and that tapping on the meridians while thinking of a negative emotion alters the body's energy field, restoring it to "balance."
* Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), an information processing psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from distressing memories.Shapiro, F. (2001) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Second Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. The Guilford Press; 2 edition.]
* Thought Field Therapy, an alternative treatment developed by an American psychologist, Roger Callahan, Ph.D. Its proponents say that it can heal of a variety of mental and physical ailments through specialized "tapping" with the fingers at meridian points on the upper body and hands.(TFT; Callahan, 1995; Gallo, 1995)
* Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR; Gerbode, 1985, 1995),
* Visual–Kinesthetic Dissociation (V/KD), adapted from a visualization technique developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler, the co-founders of Neuro-linguistic programming, V/KD "involves temporarily induced dissociation from the negative feelings associated with traumatic memory through visual review of the traumatic event(s) from a different perspective"Michael Lamport Commons (2000) [http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/v6i2/v6i2a5.htm The Power Therapies: A proposed mechanism for their action and suggestions for future empirical validation] Vol.VI,2,5 ]

History

Power therapies were developed through the early 1970s, and became more popular in the 1980s. They have diverged and merged into a set of therapies run by various, usually commercial, bodies. Each of these therapies has slightly different approaches. They generally incorporate some kind of exposure to a negative emotional state or memories, and involve a procedure that elicits a more positive or relaxed state. Some use eye movements, and some use the tapping of energy meridians.

pecific approaches

Power therapies follow an eclectic approach, drawing from a wide variety of sources. The meridian based power therapies tend to be used in combination with traditional eastern philosophies or approaches, though their use of the term "energy" is often mixed with modern notions of quantum physics. Thus often vitalistic in nature, the theories proposed to support and guide power therapies tend to have a New age following.

Empirical testing

EMDR

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 EMDREMDR Institute (2007) References. http://www.emdr.com/refs.htm] . 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.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] 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."Dietrich, AM., Baranowsky, AB., Devich-Navarro, M., Gentry, JE, Harris, CJH., Figley, CR., (2000) [http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/v6i4/v6i4a2.htm A Review of Alternative Approaches to the Treatment of Post Traumatic Sequelae] "Traumatology" Volume VI (4,2)] However, as Grant Devilly states that VKD, a technique derived from Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has not yet been presented for peer review.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)]

Criticism and Controversy

*Eye_Movement_Desensitization_and_Reprocessing#Controversy
*Emotional_Freedom_Techniques#Criticism
*Neuro-linguistic_Programming#Lack_of_scientific_validation

External links

* [http://www.psychinnovations.com/figley_pttalk.htm Charles Figley: History and Active Ingredients of the Power Therapies]
* [http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/ International Journal of Traumatology and Traumatology Institute]

Notes

References

*Callahan, R. (1995, August). A thought field therapy (TFT) algorithm for trauma: A reproducible experiment in psychotherapy. Paper presented at the "105th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association", New York, NY.
*Craig, G. (Producer, 1997). Six days at the VA: Using emotional freedom therapy [videotape] . (Available from Gary Craig, 1102 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA 94947)
*Figley, C. R. (1995, July). T & r: Thought field therapy [Electronic mail posting] . [e-mail]
*Gallo, F. P. (1996) Reflections on Active Ingredients in Efficient Treatments of PTSD. "Electronic Journal of Traumatology", Part I: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/art2v2i1.html , Part II: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/art2v2i2.html
*Gerbode, F. (1985). Beyond psychology: An introduction to meta-psychology. Palo Alto, CA: IRM press.
*Gerbode, F. (1995, May). Presentation on traumatic incident reduction. Paper presented at the Active Ingredients in Efficient Treatments of PTSD Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
*Rosen, G. M., Lohr, J. M., McNally, R. J., & Herbert, J. D. (1998). Power therapies, miraculous claims, and cures that fail. "Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy", 26, 97–99.
*Yourell, R. A. (2005) Charles Figley, Ph.D. on History and Active Ingredients of the Power Therapies, Streaming audio of a moving and informative talk by Dr. Charles Figley on EMDR and other approaches to trauma therapy.