PhD/PsyD I don't even know what to say anymore...

[PsychSupreme]

The pseudoscience has reached critical mass.

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[FutureCycologist]

Am I missing something? Several of the comments that stuck out to me included ACT, DBT, and EFT. There's going to be quack trainings out there, but I'm moreso impressed by the presence of folks saying EBP trainings helped them, especially in what could be an echo chamber of nonsense. The nonsense examples seem to cluster to the bottom with fewer upvotes which honestly seems encouraging to me. But I'm reading this post as super vague, so maybe I'm missing the point.

 

[PsychSupreme]

Am I missing something? Several of the comments that stuck out to me included ACT, DBT, and EFT. There's going to be quack trainings out there, but I'm moreso impressed by the presence of folks saying EBP trainings helped them, especially in what could be an echo chamber of nonsense. The nonsense examples seem to cluster to the bottom with fewer upvotes which honestly seems encouraging to me. But I'm reading this post as super vague, so maybe I'm missing the point.

You're right, I should've better explained. Tons of the posts are about IFS, EMDR, body therapy, brainspotting, yoga, and so forth.

 

[FutureCycologist]

Yeah, the eclectic feel-good interventions that folks love to use with clients. Of course some hold more water like EMDR (which ideally is just a sexy packaging of exposure therapy, though you won't see me touch it) and some applications of yoga as a mindfulness based technique.
The shamanistic aspect of psychotherapy gets eaten up by the public, so they resonate with these techniques and getting/buying into the training means a boon to the influx of clients in a private or joint practice, which seems to be where these pseudoscience folks often end up.

I can't fault them from a pure income perspective, because if attending to common factors, creating a narrative, and using particular language netted me $250-$350/hour and I had no personal reservations about it, I'd jump in that boat.

Instead, I'll just be a managed care jockey for the rest of my life, under the thumb of the federal government

 

[PsychSupreme]

Yeah, the eclectic feel-good interventions that folks love to use with clients. Of course some hold more water like EMDR (which ideally is just a sexy packaging of exposure therapy, though you won't see me touch it) and some applications of yoga as a mindfulness based technique.
The shamanistic aspect of psychotherapy gets eaten up by the public, so they resonate with these techniques and getting/buying into the training means a boon to the influx of clients in a private or joint practice, which seems to be where these pseudoscience folks often end up.

I can't fault them from a pure income perspective, because if attending to common factors, creating a narrative, and using particular language netted me $250-$350/hour and I had no personal reservations about it, I'd jump in that boat.

Instead, I'll just be a managed care jockey for the rest of my life, under the thumb of the federal government

I just get bummed out about the lack of scientific thinking that goes on, generally, in psychotherapy practice as a whole. I probably am my own worst enemy in that I let it bother me, but I like to think I've just absorbed some of Lilienfeld's energy and will one day carry on his legacy.

 

[FutureCycologist]

It's good energy to have! It bothers me as well but with the little reach I have, yelling into the void (and that's what those spaces become very quickly) doesn't do much. Plus the confirmation bias they have is strong, so it's a much bigger battle than it's worth. My goal is to keep from getting jaded about it and plugging into a training role where I can help offset the decline.
We can all only hope to carry a share of Lilienfeld forward with us. A sign of good training I think. It's important work to carry on.

 

[cara susanna]

I was actually pretty heartened by a recent thread that bashed CBT and a lot of the comments defended it. I think there are more pro-CBT people than the sub would imply, and they really only comment on certain threads to attempt to combat some of the misinformation (I guess I'd count as one of them, lol)

 

[Sanman]

Yeah, the eclectic feel-good interventions that folks love to use with clients. Of course some hold more water like EMDR (which ideally is just a sexy packaging of exposure therapy, though you won't see me touch it) and some applications of yoga as a mindfulness based technique.
The shamanistic aspect of psychotherapy gets eaten up by the public, so they resonate with these techniques and getting/buying into the training means a boon to the influx of clients in a private or joint practice, which seems to be where these pseudoscience folks often end up.

I can't fault them from a pure income perspective, because if attending to common factors, creating a narrative, and using particular language netted me $250-$350/hour and I had no personal reservations about it, I'd jump in that boat.

Instead, I'll just be a managed care jockey for the rest of my life, under the thumb of the federal government

As long as there are buyers there will be sellers. The pharma industry has known for years that the reformulated OTC Sudafed does not work. FDA finally admitted it recently. They are still selling it under multiple brands today. Why? People like buying OTC meds. There is woo woo in every industry.

 

[smalltownpsych]

As long as there are buyers there will be sellers. The pharma industry has known for years that the reformulated OTC Sudafed does not work. FDA finally admitted it recently. They are still selling it under multiple brands today. Why? People like buying OTC meds. There is woo woo in every industry.

Funny that the the new decongestant med didn’t work. I continued to buy pseudoephedrine after the law changed just because it worked and I wasn’t very Involved in meth production.

 

[Sanman]

Funny that the the new decongestant med didn’t work. I continued to buy pseudoephedrine after the law changed just because it worked and I wasn’t very Involved in meth production.

The new decongestant (phenylephrine) is actually very old and was approved in 1976. I works in nasal sprays. It does nothing in pill form. It was just a convenient approved chemical for them to sell that was not behind a pharmacist counter.

To be fair, you would have kept buying pseudoephedrine if you were involved in meth production as well!

 

[borne_before]

Funny that the the new decongestant med didn’t work. I continued to buy pseudoephedrine after the law changed just because it worked and I wasn’t very Involved in meth production.

Try some NAC out next time. I love it when I'm stuffy. You can get it from Amazon.

Also, bro, delete reddit. I've deleted it after I got banned from a large city subreddit for something silly. But, IMHO, reddit should only be consulted with before buying something. Those nerds sometimes have things optimized.

 

[cara susanna]

Reddit is great for many things, just getting solid takes on evidence-based psychotherapy approaches is not one of them

 

[PsychSupreme]

I was actually pretty heartened by a recent thread that bashed CBT and a lot of the comments defended it. I think there are more pro-CBT people than the sub would imply, and they really only comment on certain threads to attempt to combat some of the misinformation (I guess I'd count as one of them, lol)

I saw that thread!

 

[LM02]

You know, I appreciate what was said about Steve Hayes being difficult to understand. I've been in this field for over 20 years, am a full professor with a strong research record in psychotherapy clinical trials, and I honestly don't understand what he's talking about half the time. I had to walk out of his keynote at the WCBCT in Berlin a handful of years ago. Maybe it's life-changing, some of this stuff about language and fusion and the hexaflex and what have you, but if it is not accessible to people who are doing the work, it is not going to be easily implemented or disseminated. To that end, he has benefited from other smart people doing a nice job streamlining and translating a lot of this work. So I guess there's that?

 

[cara susanna]

You know, I appreciate what was said about Steve Hayes being difficult to understand. I've been in this field for over 20 years, am a full professor with a strong research record in psychotherapy clinical trials, and I honestly don't understand what he's talking about half the time. I had to walk out of his keynote at the WCBCT in Berlin a handful of years ago. Maybe it's life-changing, some of this stuff about language and fusion and the hexaflex and what have you, but if it is not accessible to people who are doing the work, it is not going to be easily implemented or disseminated. To that end, he has benefited from other smart people doing a nice job streamlining and translating a lot of this work. So I guess there's that?

Dude, I've given ACT seminars and I barely understand it. Values stuff, sure, but relational frame theory is where they lose me. Great points about accessibility.

 

[LM02]

Dude, I've given ACT seminars and I barely understand it. Values stuff, sure, but relational frame theory is where they lose me. Great points about accessibility.

Absolutely. I very much appreciate what ACT can teach us about experiential avoidance, experiencing of emotions, and alignment of behavior with personal values. But yeah, RFT, etc. really distract from so much of what otherwise resonates from ACT for so many people.