Five Minute Phobia Cure

[Ellen Stuttle]

Best I recall (from stuff on her list), Pignotti hasn't made any "complete repudiation" of the basic technique to this day,

See the "Myths" article I referenced above. In the first paragraph, there is this statement: "I completely left and repudiated TFT and Voice Technology (VT) 6 years ago in March, 2004 and since that time have published numerous critical analyses of TFT and also an account of my experience with TFT and Voice Technology."

William, maybe you're confusing "the basic technique" with "TFT." The basic technique goes way back. Although Callahan appears to have thought he was discovering it, he wasn't. I don't think Pignotti has said that she thinks tapping has no usefulness in treating "stress and negative emotions."

See this from her article -- I'm in a rush and don't have time to re-provide the link:

[...] my application of TFT was designed to treat stress and negative emotions, not disease.

There continued to be discussion of the technique on her list well after her severing with Callahan.

Honestly, all I don't have time for, revisiting the stuff from that list.

[...] par for the course in the ongoing Objectivish Snarkout.

What does the Pignotti/Callahan business have to do with "Objectivish Snarkout," pray tell? Most of the practitioners probably hardly ever heard of Rand. They're clinical people not O'ists.

I don't know if Nathaniel ever "clearly distanced himself from Callahan" on his own list.

I wondered. You wrote "Monica Pignotti . . . became disenchanted . . . (at which time NB distanced from Callahan, too)."

Any clearer recollection of how Branden 'distanced' from Callahan, or clues as to how the distancing was made manifest?

Yes, and no as to answering. Private correspondence -- unless there's a specific statement on Monica's list. (There might be, but I'm not sure.)

Ellen

[rodney203]

Ellen and others,

Here is my bottom line on this topic. I don't think an adequate distinction is being kept between claimed psychosomatic benefits vs. supposed actual physiological benefits. It seems to me that they are being discussed more or less simultaneously, and this is very unfortunate. If any "benefits" had are only psychosomatic, then this topic belongs in the Psychology section, not here.

Regarding claimed actual physical causes of benefit - The notion is so far removed from what we already know of how the body works that serious evidence that the phenomenon is even "possible" would have to be presented in every forum discussion. Even this has not been done, and the discussion is well beyond that point. It is not in keeping with Objectivist principles to discuss this topic before it be shown that the physical phenomenon is even "possible".

[Brant Gaede]

When I heard Dr. Branden discuss it he didn't use the argument from authority or just "say it's great". I'm not sure Dennis has crossed that line either. Branden said it had worked for him (he gave a specific example) and suggested having an open mind about it, this in response to a questioner whose tone was rather like yours. He also wrote positively about Rolfing in one of his books (Honoring the Self, I think), deliciously satirized here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q3doiKoli0Yes, that's Rosa Klebb of From Russia with Love

NB was once Rolfed himself. He described it positively and as painful both in emotional release and physically. He has also advocated Gestalt therapy as an alternative or adjunct to his work. His wife Patrecia was impressed with Carlos Castaneda, he wasn't. By that I mean that C.C. didn't do anything much for him. It was a disgrace that C.C. got a PhD from UCLA on the doctoral basis of one of his books best described, I think, as "new-wave fiction."

--Brant

[Brant Gaede]

Ellen and others,

Here is my bottom line on this topic. I don't think an adequate distinction is being kept between claimed psychosomatic benefits vs. supposed actual physiological benefits. It seems to me that they are being discussed more or less simultaneously, and this is very unfortunate. If any "benefits" had are only psychosomatic, then this topic belongs in the Psychology section, not here.

Regarding claimed actual physical causes of benefit - The notion is so far removed from what we already know of how the body works that serious evidence that the phenomenon is even "possible" would have to be presented in every forum discussion. Even this has not been done, and the discussion is well beyond that point. It is not in keeping with Objectivist principles to discuss this topic before it be shown that the physical phenomenon is even "possible".

What "Objectivist principles" are these?

--Brant

[william.scherk]

Best I recall (from stuff on her list), Pignotti hasn't made any "complete repudiation" of the basic technique to this day,

See the "Myths" article I referenced above. In the first paragraph, there is this statement: "I completely left and repudiated TFT and Voice Technology (VT) 6 years ago in March, 2004 and since that time have published numerous critical analyses of TFT and also an account of my experience with TFT and Voice Technology."

William, maybe you're confusing "the basic technique" with "TFT." The basic technique goes way back. Although Callahan appears to have thought he was discovering it, he wasn't. I don't think Pignotti has said that she thinks tapping has no usefulness in treating "stress and negative emotions."

See this from her article -- I'm in a rush and don't have time to re-provide the link:

[...] my application of TFT was designed to treat stress and negative emotions, not disease.

There continued to be discussion of the technique on her list well after her severing with Callahan.

Ellen, by highlighting the complete repudiation of TFT and Callahan I meant only to add to your characterization of 'disenchantment' . . .

I am not quite sure what you mean by 'the basic technique.' Maybe if you have time or inclination you could flesh that out, and even put some more meat on the bones of your intriguing contention that the basic technique had been known/practiced long before Callahan claimed to discover it. But, no bother if you don't.

I am reading through the posts to Monica Pignotti's TFT-ALGO list subsequent to her break with Roger Callahan. If you mean that Pignotti does not 'throw out the baby' (of the tapping procedure) with the bathwater (the whole encrusted system built by Callahan), I think I see what you mean. Somewhere in the middle of the tosh/advanced training/crust was a technique, a procedure, a protocol -- not simply tapping, of course -- that seemed to offer relief for some symptoms of distress -- and more importantly, could better have been understood by rigourous examination within the larger clinical and academic community. Pignotti didn't reject explicitly the idea that something in the whole procedure was of value and worthy of study, although she did abandon TFT practice herself. Is that somewhat like what you meant?

If so, I agree. The interest to me is in details of her 'disenchantment' leading to the repudiation and the details of her debunkings. It makes for compelling reading for someone like me, but would perhaps be deadly dull otherwise.

Regarding the 'snark-out' comment, I meant to make a comparison between what Pignotti appears to have faced recently (call it calumnies) and normal scientific bickering and dickering. I did not mean that the TFTers were inerested in Objectivish things, but that the wacko wing battling her subsequently was more like the, ahem, disputants that occasionally consume so much oxygen in Objectivish purlieus.

Anyway, that she tailed out on TFT while discussing with her colleagues is perhaps not so important in the larger scheme of things. She is a defector, so to speak, and her journey back from 'cultism' is intriguing to me. She certainly hasn't done any TFT since her the break.

Incidentally, I was surprised to see a post from William Scott Scherk in on that list subsequent to Monica's departure from the TFT establishment. And a certain person some of us know as Dragonfly . . . and, well, Nathaniel Branden calmly explaining the apparent superiority of chakra based tapping over plain old meridian tapping. I had no idea how fully he was into the woo.

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Best I recall (from stuff on her list), Pignotti hasn't made any "complete repudiation" of the basic technique to this day,

See the "Myths" article I referenced above. In the first paragraph, there is this statement: "I completely left and repudiated TFT and Voice Technology (VT) 6 years ago in March, 2004 and since that time have published numerous critical analyses of TFT and also an account of my experience with TFT and Voice Technology."

William, maybe you're confusing "the basic technique" with "TFT." The basic technique goes way back. Although Callahan appears to have thought he was discovering it, he wasn't. I don't think Pignotti has said that she thinks tapping has no usefulness in treating "stress and negative emotions."

See this from her article -- I'm in a rush and don't have time to re-provide the link:

[...] my application of TFT was designed to treat stress and negative emotions, not disease.

There continued to be discussion of the technique on her list well after her severing with Callahan.

Ellen, by highlighting the complete repudiation of TFT and Callahan I meant only to add to your characterization of 'disenchantment' . . .

I am not quite sure what you mean by 'the basic technique.' Maybe if you have time or inclination you could flesh that out, and even put some more meat on the bones of your intriguing contention that the basic technique had been known/practiced long before Callahan claimed to discover it. But, no bother if you don't.

I am reading through the posts to Monica Pignotti's TFT-ALGO list subsequent to her break with Roger Callahan. If you mean that Pignotti does not 'throw out the baby' (of the tapping procedure) with the bathwater (the whole encrusted system built by Callahan), I think I see what you mean. Somewhere in the middle of the tosh/advanced training/crust was a technique, a procedure, a protocol -- not simply tapping, of course -- that seemed to offer relief for some symptoms of distress -- and more importantly, could better have been understood by rigourous examination within the larger clinical and academic community. Pignotti didn't reject explicitly the idea that something in the whole procedure was of value and worthy of study, although she did abandon TFT practice herself. Is that somewhat like what you meant?

If so, I agree. The interest to me is in details of her 'disenchantment' leading to the repudiation and the details of her debunkings. It makes for compelling reading for someone like me, but would perhaps be deadly dull otherwise.

Regarding the 'snark-out' comment, I meant to make a comparison between what Pignotti appears to have faced recently (call it calumnies) and normal scientific bickering and dickering. I did not mean that the TFTers were inerested in Objectivish things, but that the wacko wing battling her subsequently was more like the, ahem, disputants that occasionally consume so much oxygen in Objectivish purlieus.

Anyway, that she tailed out on TFT while discussing with her colleagues is perhaps not so important in the larger scheme of things. She is a defector, so to speak, and her journey back from 'cultism' is intriguing to me. She certainly hasn't done any TFT since her the break.

Incidentally, I was surprised to see a post from William Scott Scherk in on that list subsequent to Monica's departure from the TFT establishment. And a certain person some of us know as Dragonfly . . . and, well, Nathaniel Branden calmly explaining the apparent superiority of chakra based tapping over plain old meridian tapping. I had no idea how fully he was into the woo.

WSS,

LOL... Presumably there should be some verification of physiological response with these therapies like monitoring the effects on blood pressure of yoga or certain types of meditation?

Jim

[william.scherk]

WSS,

LOL... Presumably there should be some verification of physiological response with these therapies like monitoring the effects on blood pressure of yoga or certain types of meditation?

Jim

Why? I don't follow your reasoning here, brother. Are you familiar with the wilder claims originating from Callahan and his aversion to straightforward research? Have you been to his website? We are talking Woo with a capital W.

If you are comparing Yoga claims with TFT claims, or Meditation claims with TFT claims, go ahead, that might be fun and instructive, in the sense that Yoga boosters have nothing like VT in their brochures. I think, however, a more useful comparison would be the claims of utter woo (Pranic healing or Ayurveda or TM flying) to TFT's more wacked out promoters.

If some Yoga adherents claim "our program will reduce your blood pressure better than weight loss and exercise," yeah, I think it is wise to ask "How do you know that?" If certain types of meditation are accompanied by astounding medical or therapeutic claims, the same question occurs to me. You?

PS -- it occurs to me I am missing your point, James. Yikes. Sorry for the autistic moment. Yes . . . yoga and meditation have been subject to research and we can find pretty reasonable results consistent with the rather modest claims made for them.

Edited September 27, 2010 by william.scherk

[James Heaps-Nelson]

WSS,

LOL... Presumably there should be some verification of physiological response with these therapies like monitoring the effects on blood pressure of yoga or certain types of meditation?

Jim

Why? I don't follow your reasoning here, brother. Are you familiar with the wilder claims originating from Callahan and his aversion to straightforward research? Have you been to his website? We are taling Woo with a capital W.

If you are comparing Yoga claims with TFT claims, or Meditation claims with TFT claims, go ahead, that might be fun and instructive, in the sense that Yoga boosters have nothing like VT in their brochures. I think, however, a more useful comparison would be the claims of utter woo (Pranic healing or Ayurveda or TM flying) to TFT's more wacked out promoters.

If some Yoga adherents claim "our program will reduce your blood pressure better than weight loss and exercise," yeah, I think it is wise to ask "How do you know that?" If certain types of meditation are accompanied by astounding medical or therapeutic claims, the same question occurs to me. You?

I was being sardonic. I think TFT is a bunch of bunk, but then I've never had a phobia or pain problem to spend five minutes with. No, I'm not familiar with Callahan's claims. The point I was making is that there should be some controlled way to verify if you are making progress or not.

Jim

[Ellen Stuttle]

Ellen, by highlighting the complete repudiation of TFT and Callahan I meant only to add to your characterization of 'disenchantment' . . .

OK.

I am not quite sure what you mean by 'the basic technique.' Maybe if you have time or inclination you could flesh that out, and even put some more meat on the bones of your intriguing contention that the basic technique had been known/practiced long before Callahan claimed to discover it. But, no bother if you don't.

By "the basic technique," I mean tapping on certain places of the body to subvert an incipient panic reaction or just to get a "cool down" effect if one is becoming tense and one's thoughts are becoming "stuck," for instance. The primary tapping places are with cupped fingers around the ears, and against the sides of the ribs at approximately the "sore" points (about half way down the rib cage -- a place where there's a slightly tender feeling if you go pushing with your thumb down along the corrugation of the rib structure).

The "cupped fingers around the ears" is something I discovered myself in my early teens. Probably most everyone has discovered shaking your head to clear your thoughts a bit. I found that a few quick taps with cupped fingers around the ears while somewhat shaking the head, and especially if combined with drawing in a deep breath, has a thought-clearing and calming effect. I think it could be useful say if someone were experiencing stage fright, or just generally getting tensed up in a performance situation.

Likewise, tapping around the rib-cage spot while breathing deeply seems to me more quickly to produce a relaxation than just breathing deeply alone. I do it using the outstretched hand -- that is, stretch the thumb out to get maximum curve between thumb tip and first-finger tip and tap several times quickly along that curve against the sides of the ribs.

Both of these procedures have apparently been mentioned in acu-lore for a long time, according to some sources I read when I was looking into TFT back in the late '90s. I don't off-hand have the references.

The further business of developing sequences has been used by other people besides Callahan. But I think he's the one who started the idea of "algorithms" specific to specific problem types, and the further idea that a "protocol" of sequences specific to a particular person would produce the best results. (And then the further idea, when people were relapsing, though they weren't supposed to relapse according to his theory, that "toxins" in the person's food or atmosphere were causing the relapse and needed to be tested for with muscle-reaction techniques. And then the Big expensive technique, kept secret unless you paid a bundle to find out, of VT. I still don't know the secret. Monica was under oath not to divulge it. She did say that it wasn't the obvious, sine-wave analysis of the voice, but wouldn't say, last I was keeping tabs, what it was.)

I am reading through the posts to Monica Pignotti's TFT-ALGO list subsequent to her break with Roger Callahan. If you mean that Pignotti does not 'throw out the baby' (of the tapping procedure) with the bathwater (the whole encrusted system built by Callahan), I think I see what you mean. Somewhere in the middle of the tosh/advanced training/crust was a technique, a procedure, a protocol -- not simply tapping, of course -- that seemed to offer relief for some symptoms of distress -- and more importantly, could better have been understood by rigourous examination within the larger clinical and academic community. Pignotti didn't reject explicitly the idea that something in the whole procedure was of value and worthy of study, although she did abandon TFT practice herself. Is that somewhat like what you meant?

Actually, it's exactly what I mean.

[....]

Incidentally, I was surprised to see a post from William Scott Scherk in on that list subsequent to Monica's departure from the TFT establishment. And a certain person some of us know as Dragonfly . . . and, well, Nathaniel Branden calmly explaining the apparent superiority of chakra based tapping over plain old meridian tapping. I had no idea how fully he was into the woo.

Is the "surprised" meant seriously? I mean, had you forgotten you'd posted something there? "A certain person some of us know as Dragonfly" had extensive dispute about TFT with Monica on NB's Yahoo! list before Monica started to become "disenchanted." He's subsequently made comments appreciative of her honesty of continued investigation.

I would think, re chakra-based versus meridian tapping, that chakra-based would in fact give better stress-reduction results because of where the chakras are said to be. Basically one would be tapping along the spine, and that is known to be relaxing -- I suppose any person who administers or receives massage would agree.

That comment isn't meant as countering that NB "was into the woo." Just that the straightforward statement I think is probably right. [Added: The disadvantage of chakra-based tapping is that you have to have someone else's assistance. You can't tap down your own spinal column, but you can do meridian techniques on your own.]

WHEN was that post of NB's? Have you found any others? I recall his posting several brief questions, and I have a vague and maybe false memory of his saying something on that list commiserating with Monica and expressing sadness at Callahan's...descent to the dark side, so to speak.

Do you have a website URL to the list? I think I have all the posts, but not consecutively in one mailbox. Besides which, looking through posts in my email mailboxes is much more time-consuming than skimming through on a website.

Ellen

Edited September 27, 2010 by Ellen Stuttle

[Ellen Stuttle]

Ellen and others,

Here is my bottom line on this topic. I don't think an adequate distinction is being kept between claimed psychosomatic benefits vs. supposed actual physiological benefits. It seems to me that they are being discussed more or less simultaneously, and this is very unfortunate. If any "benefits" had are only psychosomatic, then this topic belongs in the Psychology section, not here.

What distinction are you drawing between psychosomatic (emphasis) and "actual physiological"?

Regarding claimed actual physical causes of benefit - The notion is so far removed from what we already know of how the body works that serious evidence that the phenomenon is even "possible" would have to be presented in every forum discussion. Even this has not been done, and the discussion is well beyond that point. It is not in keeping with Objectivist principles to discuss this topic before it be shown that the physical phenomenon is even "possible".

Specifically what "notion" and what "physical phenomenon" do you mean?

Ellen

[9thdoctor]

BTW, Callahan has a YouTube channel. I started up the first video and I now definitely find myself leaning more towards WSS's outright dismissal attitude. Woo-woo. L. Ron recidivus. Tune up your E-meters.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKAZ1NjPVb8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKAZ1NjPVb8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKAZ1NjPVb8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

http://www.youtube.com/user/ThoughtFieldTherapy

[Brant Gaede]

I don't think he understands chemotherapy.

--Brant

[william.scherk]

Do you have a website URL to the list? I think I have all the posts, but not consecutively in one mailbox. Besides which, looking through posts in my email mailboxes is much more time-consuming than skimming through on a website.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/TFT-ALGO

I replied with some other information backstage so as not to cause eye-bleeding boredom here on list.

[william.scherk]

[ . . . ] I now definitely find myself leaning more towards WSS's outright dismissal attitude.

I am deeply skeptical of the over-the-top claims and appalled at the crass boosterism, and surprised at Objectivish folk who don't apply common critical tools to something that lacks face validity -- something that (to my mind) should clang the bell of inquiry.

It is strange to me that testimonials are given such weight (by Objectivists), and further baffled by the manner in which Dr Hardin took offence at pretty basic questioning of the rational value of his own testimonial -- with his offended bluster about Scherk's anti-life evul propaganda. That is dismissal, and it boggles my mind.

Perhaps, somewhere in the operation of 'tapping' protocols there can be found something specific, a uniquely efficacious something -- as I noted was the hope of Monica Pignotti even as she completely repudiated TFT and Roger Callahan. If there is a uniquely efficacious something, reseach can tease it out and demonstrate it. The thing is, it's not easy work -- and as those trained in research on the list could probably further extend, there are many possibilities for a purported 'success' with the 5 minute phobia cure.

These possibilities include but are not limited to: demand characteristics, non-specific effects, confirmation bias, suggestion, expectancy, compliance, therapeutic alliance, belief-bias effects.

Perhaps the most important possibility is that TFT procedures in the 5 minute phobia cure comprise actions and effects and procedures that are shared with other evidence-based interventions (non specific effects, e.g., imaginal exposure).

In other words, the cure comprises components of interventions that have demonstrated their efficacy under rigorous tests (notably Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). The phobia cure protocol does not simply consist of tapping.**

Beyond that, the evidence adduced in support of the 'success' is thin if not questionable in itself. 'Success' is primarily based on an instrument known as the Subjective Units Of Distress Scale (SUDS). This is all well and good if its limitations are acknowledged, and if the demand characteristics of the situation a client finds themselves in are also acknowledged. TFT boosters count as a cure a score of 1 at the end of the procedure . . .

The questions abound once you understand just what happens during the purported cure. The first and most obvious question is whether follow-up on clients is done with the SUDS or other instruments. If the client reports a SUDS of 1 at the end of a treatment, does that report hold over time without further intervention? Is the measure of success valid and reliable? Do success claims fully report the case beyond anecdote?

Anyhow, this is probably a boring subject for many here. I will not range over ground that has been thoroughly churned by folks much more astute and critical than I. Just bear in mind that I don't 'dismiss' TFT; I do reject the shoddy evidence adduced by TFT adherents as probative or convincing. I dismiss it as 'good enough.'

_________

** Peer-reviewed research on TFT and its associated tapping schemes is almost completely absent. I point interested readers to the study by Waite and Holder published in The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. Although it is EFT under the scope (Emotional Freedom Technique) the study contains intriguing results, notably that SUDS scales were equally reduced by three tapping protocols -- one of which had the study subjects tapping a paper doll . . .

Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An Alternative Treatment for Fear

[Brant Gaede]

The basic principle of effective psychotherapy is there is a problem and let's work on it. In 1976 I brought my "problems" to Nathaniel Branden and we worked on them. I came to think then and still do now that I was the perfect client for him which made him the perfect therapist for me. There were about 24 clients in this NYC group which met every month for a two-day weekend for a total of 15 months (1975-1977). I joined in January 1976 when it was three months old. It concluded in January 1977. One month was skipped because of a prior Branden commitment. That was March 1976. In February 1977 Branden gave his first Intensive in Washington DC and I attended that and most of the subsequent ones in NYC and one in California in March of 1979. I think that one was on romantic love. In my therapy I did most but not all of the creative work and Branden did the rote work, meaning he had seen it countless times before so he was essentially repeating himself while for me it was all new. With one exception, I have all my work with Branden in therapy--not the Intensives--on tape, which I intend to eventually transcribe and annotate and donate to some university library including the actual recordings to remain sealed for the rest of this century for the sake of my privacy and the privacy of my descendants. There will be some critical comments about NB, btw. He wasn't perfect and he acknowledged that. My big beef still is he put too much off on the client and that left him clean. This enabled him to run multiple therapy groups in his 1970s heyday--and probably into the 1980s. You can't have that many clients and take their problems home with you at night without going nuts. In 1976 he stated he had had over 3000 clients so far. This is the same as your family doctor who doesn't take your problems home at night--YOU DO! It's up to you to figure things out and inform the therapist or doctor about those next time you see him and deal with them then. Unfortunately in conventional medicine your doctor sees you for 15 minutes, makes a judgment and one goes home and does what the doctor says until one sees him next time. I once had a problem and it took me two years to figure out I had a mild milk allergy. The doctor didn't figure it out--all four of them including the last and best of the lot. So, the idea of tapping per se doesn't do much for me. My life wasn't trite.

--Brant

if it isn't you it's nobody

Edited September 28, 2010 by Brant Gaede

[DavidMcK]

Your donation sounds like a great idea Brant; I was just thinking the other day that we would probably find out more about how NB really works after he dies that we can know now. My 2 cents on this whole discussion is a comparison between using herbs in say South America for medicinal purposes without having a theory of disease, or a theory of biology. You wouldn't repudiate something that seemed to have efficacy because of a lack of knowledge, you would either wait for the knowledge to come later or find out yourself. Same difference for therapy techniques.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Dennis,

I went to Callahan's YouTube channel to see what I could see. It's about 99% testimonials.

That's a good sign for marketing, I suppose. That quantity of testimonials with little else, though, does raise a red flag.

Michael

[rodney203]

Re: Rowan's posting of the film clip of Callahan:

Shrewd move. Though I didn't need convincing it further confirmed the situation for me.

I loved it !!! The body language, the state of dress, the shifting eyes, the endless list,,,,,

[9thdoctor]

Re: Rowan's posting of the film clip of Callahan:

Shrewd move. Though I didn't need convincing it further confirmed the situation for me.

I loved it !!! The body language, the state of dress, the shifting eyes, the endless list,,,,,

Apparently that’s his channel, meaning he chooses to come across that way. Like a shifty slob. He must have watched this video before uploading it. Even L. Ron Hubbard looked more trustworthy.

[rodney203]

Rowan, when I replied last I also wanted to say in humor "DAMM !!! why didn't I think of gathering some first hand facts about the situation and putting them out the group !!"

Of course, I had (implicitly) thought of gathering facts, but I already knew enough facts for myself.

Now Rowan, why do you think he would WANT to come across as he did? I'm a conspiracy theorist and I still can't really think of much reason.

[9thdoctor]

Now Rowan, why do you think he would WANT to come across as he did? I'm a conspiracy theorist and I still can't really think of much reason.

I can only speculate. My gut feeling is that he doesn’t care. Psychologists are usually well tuned in to body language, so it’s certainly odd.

BTW, no one calls me Rowan, usually its ND, 9th, or Dennis. I’m liable to switch my avatar back to Christopher Eccleston one of these days. Peter Taylor won’t like it:

[Dennis Hardin]

Just in case there is anyone who might be seriously interested in the topic of psychological reversal discussed by Dr. Callahan on that recording, it is often called ‘self-sabotage’—i.e., it refers to a stubborn, self-destructive, typically subconscious mental disposition which the client experiences as a kind of mental block to resolving an emotional problem. Dr. Callahan discovered a way to remove psychological reversal as an impediment to therapy. As he says, correcting psychological reversal is a precondition of successful TFT treatment.

You can read about a fast and effective way to eliminate psychological reversal in Five Minute Phobia Cure.

[william.scherk]

Just in case there is anyone who might be seriously interested in the topic of psychological reversal discussed by Dr. Callahan on that recording, it is often called ‘self-sabotage’—i.e., it refers to a stubborn, self-destructive, typically subconscious mental disposition which the client experiences as a kind of mental block to resolving an emotional problem.

This is hooey of the highest order. A so-called 'psychological reversal' is a claim made after failure of TFT tapping.

If you can't tap your troubles away, you see, it is your own fault.

Here is what Herbert and Gaudiano had to say about 'psychological reversal,' from the same cautionary article I cited above and that Dr Hardin has dismissed unread (emphasis added):

[P]seudosciences explain away or reinterpret failures as actually providing confirmatory evidence (Lakatos 1978). Callahan proposes the existence of a phenomenon termed “psychological reversal” to explain instances in which TFT fails to work. Psychological reversal is claimed to result in self-sabotaging attitudes and behaviors and is manifested in the reversed flow of energy that blocks the effects of the treatment (Callahan 1998). The prescribed treatment for such a condition involves reciting more cognitive coping statements (e.g., “I accept myself, even though I have this problem”) that may alleviate distress independent of tapping. In addition, “energy toxins” are claimed to be substances that negatively affect the thought field, even if the person is not physically allergic to these supposed pathogens. These substances are proposed to cause a previously eliminated symptom to return (Joslin 1999). Using “muscle testing” procedures and VT, the offending pathogen can allegedly be identified, then removed until the treatment works again. Both psychological reversal and energy toxins are prime examples of post hoc reasoning and attempts to ignore disconfirming evidence by creating uncorroborated explanations of TFT failures.

Here is what another passionate booster of TFT has to say about 'psychological reversal':

The year before Dr Callahan invented TFT he had made a curious discovery. He knew that about 40% of his patients were very hard to treat. Eventually he realised that they were suffering from a condition which he termed psychological reversal (PR) in which the electrical polarity of the body's energy meridian system is reversed.

While in this reversed state many treatments (not just TFT) are ineffective. A good analogy is a battery -powered torch. Put the batteries in the wrong way and what happens - nothing! Callahan had discovered a fascinating aspect of nature that had never been recorded before.

However to begin with he had no idea how to treat it. Then, after months of research and experimentation he discovered that psychological reversal could be corrected by tapping on the side of the hand a few times. More persistent cases of psychological reversal (what is known as recurrent reversal) can be treated by rubbing an area he termed the "sore spot", below the left collarbone, in a circular motion.

Edited October 1, 2010 by william.scherk

[Dennis Hardin]

This is hooey of the highest order. A so-called 'psychological reversal' is a claim made after failure of TFT tapping.

If you can't tap your troubles away, you see, it is your own fault.

Once again, the silly fool has no idea what he is talking about.

Once again, he is the cyber equivalent of Ellsworth Toohey doing all he can to discourage people from pursuing individual growth and achievement, giving them excuses not to take actions that could potentially improve their lives. It would be one thing for him to admit that he lacks the personal courage to pursue a technique that has helped so many people improve their lives. But he wants to raise a quasi-scientific smokescreen to prevent others from doing it. He is enshrining his own ignorance as a self-righteous bulwark in the path of those who might wish to try Callahan’s approach. If this is not pure, unvarnished evil, I would like to know what on this earth would qualify as evil.

Psychological reversal has to do with an internal energy block. Essentially, the positive and negative energy flow within the body reverses polarity so that we tend to achieve the opposite of our conscious choices. It is a principle which applies more generally to all psychotherapy, not just TFT. It typically results from developmental conflicts in which early childhood experiences instilled fears of getting hurt. Past failures or other negative experiences result in pain which impacts our motivation to succeed as adults and sabotages our efforts to grow in order to protect us from the pain of future failures. These fears may be intensified by feelings of unworthiness or helplessness. In many cases, our inner child is constantly working at cross purposes to the mature adult, defending us from potential pain by insuring continued failure.

Examples include the kind of negative self-talk which many people constantly tell themselves in some form. “I can never amount to anything.” “I will never have happiness.” “There is something fundamentally wrong with me.” Such people tend to interpret everything that happens, even positive occurrences, in a negative way, and often create self-fulfilling prophecies which give them the comfort of reaffirming their established self-image.

People prone to self-sabotage tend to be constantly focusing on the negative aspects of their lives and worrying about the future, but rarely take actions designed to remedy their problems. They are constantly comparing themselves to others in a negative way and thereby reaffirming their own sense of worthlessness. Their self-criticism is relentless and unyielding. When and if they enter therapy, these same tendencies will serve to undercut their progress and hold them back. When cognitive behavioral therapists help patients become aware of subconscious beliefs that are negative and self-defeating, they are addressing the problem of psychological reversal.

Dr. Callahan conceptualized this issue in a way that helped to cast it in a new light—as a problem that should be addressed at the outset of therapy, to insure that the client would be able to minimize self-defeating tendencies. And he also developed a quick and easy way to redirect the negative energy flow which seems to accompany self-sabotage, as well as a means for testing if the reversal has been temporarily resolved.

If you are interested, please keep in mind that the only downside if it doesn’t work is the few dollars you pay for the book and the few minutes of time you invest in trying Callahan’s method.

Ask yourself: Why would someone invest so much time and energy in the effort to discourage people from trying something that could help them—a method he has never bothered to try on his own? Do you really think Nathaniel Branden would incorporate Callahan’s methods into his own therapeutic practice if they did not usually achieve extraordinary results?

I would encourage readers to not let this ignorant curmudgeon stand in the way of your own personal growth.

[william.scherk]

Dr Hardin again turns questioning the loopy TFT protocols and 'discoveries' into something personal. Tiresome but to be expected from someone who doesn't seem to understand that criticism of TFT is justified and necessary. Can an argument on TFT's efficacy be based on the post hoc justification of 'psychological reversal'? No. Not at all. Such a notion renders TFT unfalsifiable.

As a post hoc rationalization for failure, 'psychological reversal' is flabby enough. But when you realize that the means of removing the 'reversal' it to tap some more . . . the mind boggles anew.

Consider the loopy explication of the 'reversal' -- it is a reversal of the energy flow. The question is obvious: What freaking energy flow? What evidence is there for the freaking existence of the notion of the 'energy flow' in the first place? Zero, at least as adduced by Drs Hardin and Callahan.

Adding a further layer of bumptious, loopy murk to the hooey is not helping you, Doctor. Adding further notes about my evulness is really, really stupid argumentation.

"It would be one thing for him to admit that he lacks the personal courage to pursue a technique that has helped so many people improve their lives"

Has it not occured to you, dear doctor, that I don't have a problem? What am I supposed to tap for, ferchrissakes? I don't have anxieties or social phobias or vague psychic pain or subsidiary torments.

Please fork up something other than hooey, murk, and pearl-clutching . . .

As for "Do you really think Nathaniel Branden would incorporate Callahan’s methods into his own therapeutic practice if they did not usually achieve extraordinary results?"

This is an argument from authority, doc. Sad. Funny. Kooky. In any case, Branden claimed more success wacking the chakras that whacking the 'meridians.' And you are begging the question. What evidence do we have of 'extraordinary results'?

The laughed at Galileo. They also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

Edited October 1, 2010 by william.scherk