On Wed, 17 Jul 1996, Dr T E Sensky wrote:
> The fact that people think (or state .. however emphatically) that
> they have been helped by some intervention is not in itself any
> indication that that intervention has had a specific effect. One
> of the most consistent findings relating to counselling in primare
> care is the enthusiastic acceptance of this by patients, and possibly
> the growing demand for it. However, don't we need to demonstrate
> more than this ? Is the counsellor's intervention more effective
> than someone merely offering a sympathetic ear ?
I agree completely. The fact that someone thinks they've been helped
*proves* nothing at all--but when there are lots of such anecdotes about a
therapy, doesn't it make that therapy worth objective investigation?
>
> It appears to me that much of the discussion about complementary or
> alternative practices (at least in terms of the search for evidence
> and the likely methods to find this) can be applied equally well to
> some types of psychotherapy and counselling.
>
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