Research shows CBT had no effect on depression and anxiety.

Scott D. Miller, PhD, advised that whilst he was in Stockholm, Sweden, his visit coincided with an announcement by the organization governing mental health practice in the country.   Miller said that for the better part of a decade, CBT enjoyed near exclusive status as “evidence-based practice.”  During that time, payment for training of clinicians and treatment of clients in other approaches disappeared as over two billion Swedish crowns were spent on in CBT.  However, the result has shown that the widespread adoption of the method of CBT had no effect whatsoever on the outcome of people disabled by depression and anxiety.⁽¹⁾

Quote” I’m not Weird. I’m limited edition. “Unquote

And so are all of us. Our own thinking, believe system and perception of the world around us, is as unique as our fingerprints. In addition, the one thing we do know – we do the most learning when we make mistakes, through the need to find answers to overcome our mistakes. This makes us stronger in the process.  So if a something does not work for us, then we need to search for another answer.

This does not just apply to me, or my clients – it applies to everything. Following the saying; “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. There would be no advance in science, unless someone stepped outside the box to discover something new.  And sometimes researchers did (step outside the box), written their results, but they were never acted on.

The best judge of any therapy is the client and their outcome, and books cannot give us that, only client feedback is our marker as to what is working or not – not the therapy someone writes down and teaches you. What we are taught in the classroom is just the basic recipe of what is thought to be evidence-based therapy at that time – but if you want to be a good cook, you experiment with adding a bit of this and a bit that, until the recipe becomes yours and your clients own success.

An article by Andrea Hayward in 2012 in The Courier Mail, advised that young Australian diggers (Australian Defence Force members) with mental health problems are being let down by the federal government, Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) because they are stuck in the paradigm of not trialling other therapies that many of us have used for years that do release fears, emotions, anxieties and fears experienced in traumatic circumstances.

More than half of ADF members had experienced a mental health disorder at some stage in their lives prior to joining the forces, at a rate of 54 per cent compared to 49 per cent in the broader Australian community.

Of the $5.1 billion spent on mental health services in 2007/08, $142 million was earmarked for the DVA programs and initiatives. That amount rose to $160 million in 2009/10.  Yet, a number of introduced programs and initiatives have shown to be of little help.

In addition, while mental health service spending has risen significantly in the last 10 years, about 65 per cent of Australians with a mental illness did not access support services and this figure was likely to be higher for serving Defence members and veterans, who were often reluctant to report a problem because it might reduce their prospects of deployment. ^[2]

In the ABC article by Rachael Brown, 23 April 2014 titled ‘Australian Defence Force veterans detail growing scourge of post-traumatic stress disorder’ Major General Cantwell says the demons confronting today’s veterans deserve greater attention and funding.”We’ve spent $95 million in the last four years on mental health support services in terms of health care providers, in terms of training, in terms of up-skilling our health care providers so they’re better equipped to deal with PTSD in military personnel.”

“When one considers the $300 million-plus being spent on the Gallipoli centenary in 2015, a vitally important commemoration of an important part in our military and national history … but gee whizz, wouldn’t it be great to see some of that money create an enduring effect for those veterans?”^[3]

I have heard the same from Police Officers.  They also felt that if they attended the available counselling services, they would end up on a desk job, and so keep quiet.  They do not trust that their best interests are at the heart of the ‘Establishment’, which they feel looks down at PTSD, as a weakness, rather than a side effect of the job.

I am a Counsellor, Analytical Clinical Hypnotherapist and Energy Health Practitioner.  I have used Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) since 2001, and I have been studying therapy since 1989.  EFT and Hypnotherapy is my first-line therapy for releasing emotions from traumatic experiences – Why?  Because it works!  It seems that there is reluctance for Psychological Mental Health establishement to accept or trial anything new.

I volunteered to do some work free using EFT, when I saw an advertisement in my local paper looking to employ a Vet counsellor. I was told that they would only accept CBT training. Hello… was anybody listening. I wanted to help – I volunteered my service FREE.   As can now be seen from the above, that means insisting using only CBT, meant the current mode of operand has only helped a few of those that need it most and deserve more.  Would it not have been of benefit to evaluate this therapy?  What better evidence-based research is there than the outcome of therapy on the client in actual therapy?

While energy psychology as a field is still relatively young, its evidence base continues to grow in both quantity and quality. As of January 2018 over 100 research studies, meta-analyses and review articles have been published on EP methods in peer-reviewed journals. These modalities have been researched by more than 200 investigators in over 12 countries.

Over fifty randomized controlled trials have documented efficacy for these methods. In 2017 the U.S. Veterans Administration added EFT to List 2, approving it as a “generally safe therapy.” Next is getting added to List 1, which is a list of approved treatments.^[4]

And, there are other modalities despite Hypnotherapy and Emotional Freedom Technique and whilst in their infancy, have shown that they work. I just show some of them below:

• Accelerated Resolution Therapy, or ART, is a brief, safe, and effective treatment for combat-related symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans and U.S. service members, researchers at University of South Florida College of Nursing report in a new study. They found this newer treatment — a combination of evidence-based psychotherapies and use of eye movements — was shorter and more likely to be completed, than conventional therapies formally endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.
• Rapid Resolution Therapy, or RRT. In traditional therapy, the client drives the session, discussing why he came and describing his personal history. The therapist lets the client’s story unfold and builds a relationship with him. In RRT sessions, the therapist helps the client create a map of where he wants to go and guides him past the trauma. The therapist is always letting the client know, when he is relating his story, that the story is in the past. “You’re using a certain type of language where you are letting them know it’s the past.” During an RRT session the client and therapist pass objects, like sponge-balls, between each other while the client is telling his story. That action serves to focus the patient, and helps to keep the emotions of the story in the past. It enables the client to speak about a traumatic event without actually reliving the situation.
• PsychK allows you to quickly and painlessly change subconscious beliefs that are limiting the full expression of your potential in life, as a spiritual being having a human experience. This includes your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. When you rewrite the software of your mind, you change the printout of your life…

^[1] Cited: 13 May 2012, Scott  D. Miller, PhD, Director, International Center for Clinical Excellence – Cummings Professor of Behavioral Health, Department of Behavioral Health, Arizona State University. https://www.scottdmiller.com/revolution-in-swedish-mental-health-practice-the-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-monopoly-gives-way/

^[2] Cited: 23 Jun 2012, Andrea Hayward.  Article; Aust diggers let down by DVA’s mental health programs. http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/diggers-let-down-on-mental-health-issues/news-story/8c4049a58bed9f344702585f32b7f6bd

^[3]  Rachel Brown 23 Apr 2014, ‘Australian Defence Force veterans detail growing scourge of post-traumatic stress disorder’ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-23/rising-ptsd-compensation-figures-in-adf-only-the-start/5404778

^[4]  The State of Energy Psychology Research, update Jan 2018,  https://energypsych.site-ym.com/?Research_Landing