Critical Thinking in the Energy Therapies: Comments on Gaudiano et al. (2012)

doi 10.9769/EPJ.2014.6.1.MS.EL.PS.AT

Mary Sise, Private Practice, Albany, NY, USA
Eric Leskowitz, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA
Phyllis K. Stein, Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, St. Louis, MO, USA
Anthony Tranguch, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, New York, NY, USA

Energy Psychology Journal May 2014Abstract:Gaudiano, Brown, and Miller (2012) report that of 149 licensed psychotherapists who responded to an Internet-based survey, 42.3% said that they frequently use or are inclined to use Energy Meridian Techniques (EMTs). Gaudiano et al. portray EMTs as lacking an empirical basis and displaying multiple characteristics of pseudoscience. They conclude that EMT therapists may be characterized as relying on intuition in decision making, holding erroneous health beliefs, and showing lower scores on a test of critical thinking. This reply by clinicians who use EMTs demonstrates that, contrary to the claims of Gaudiano et al., there is a substantial body of research supporting the efficacy of EMTs, that theories underlying EMTs have an empirical basis, and that an affinity toward EMTs is not incompatible with critical thinking abilities.

Keywords: energy psychology, critical thinking, evidence-based practice, Thought Field Therapy, Emotional Freedom Techniques

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