NOTE:
More than 80 news sources have carried some version of this press release, either on-line
or in print. They included Reuter's, Forbes.com, Yahoo, AOL, and Marketwatch, along
with specialized sites such as Healthcare Industry Today and even Pharmaceutical Industry
Today. |
In the wake of enormous
controversy about its role in the participation of psychologists in the use of
torture to extract information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in other parts of the
world, an interview just carried by Truthout reveals a new round of
criticism that has been directed toward the American Psychological Association
(APA). Growing numbers of highly regarded mental health professionals are expressing
concern that the APA is actively blocking therapists from learning techniques that have
been shown to be highly effective in helping people who suffer with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) and related conditions. The APA's 11-year policy, which bans psychologists
from receiving continuing education credit for studying the approach, known as
"Energy Psychology," was recently re-affirmed after being challenged by the
international Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP). ACEP is
comprised of 850 therapists and researchers who are adapting techniques from time-tested
healing disciplines such as acupuncture, yoga, and meditation to assist with a wide range
of psychological issues.
Dr. John Diepold, a New Jersey psychologist and an APA member since 1981, explains that
"The APA's recent ruling to again deny psychologists continuing education credit for
learning one of the most important recent innovations in the treatment of posttraumatic
stress disorder is highly questionable at this time when hundreds of thousands of our
returning soldiers, as well as victims of domestic traumas, are suffering from PTSD and
more effective treatments are desperately needed." Dr. Diepold is one of a growing
number of APA members who share this concern. Some 75 of the organization’s members
have started a petition to form a new APA division that is dedicated to the study,
practice, and dissemination of the new approach.
According to Pennsylvania psychologist, Carole Stern, ACEP’s President-elect,
"As disheartening as it has been for us as psychologists to realize that our
professional organization did not take immediate and decisive ethical steps with members
who participated in the government’s use of torture, the harm being done by the
APA’s position here is actually much more far-reaching. Some 5 million people in the
United States suffer with PTSD, including more than 300,000 veterans of the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars. PTSD is a debilitating and agonizing affliction, and the early evidence
is showing Energy Psychology to be much quicker and more effective than existing
treatments. To block therapists from learning it is unconscionable."
ACEP has been actively attempting to get the APA to lift its ban for more than a decade.
Because emerging research on Energy Psychology supports ACEP’s position, the
controversy has been gaining increasing attention. Studies using the method with
individuals suffering from PTSD have shown striking outcomes. As a result, the method is
finding its way into conventional health care settings and receiving growing popular
attention. More than a million people have obtained a guide book for using Energy
Psychology on a self-help basis, and clinical trials are being conducted by Kaiser
Permanente, Walter Reed, and Britain’s National Health Service,
ACEP’s current President, Gregory J. Nicosia, a psychologist and an APA member since
1977, notes: "The APA’s criteria for appropriate CE content are clear and
straightforward. By any reasonable reading of our applications or of our 80-page appeal
brief, we have met these criteria many times over. In blocking the dissemination of this
approach, the APA is following a different agenda than its own rules. I have no idea what
that agenda might be, but the bottom line is that it is hampering one of the most
important clinical interventions for treating trauma that has appeared in recent years
from reaching those who are in desperate need and could benefit from it most."
Clinical psychologists are increasingly speaking out about being blocked by their own
professional organization from learning or promoting the approach. Meanwhile, those who
are responsible for the treatment of returning soldiers have been more open-minded than
the APA, with the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs having solicited testimony
about the approach and 25 military hospitals participating in studies to investigate its
effectiveness. In the Truthout interview, California psychologist and ethics
expert David Gruder stated: "The [APA] should be shouting from the rooftops about
this new clinical development. Instead it has persisted for over a decade in putting up
roadblocks." Read the entire Truthout
interview.
###
Additional background information and research
citations. Printable Version (pdf)
Read an excellent paper about Energy
Psychology in one of the APA’s own flagship journals.
For questions or to arrange
an interview with Dr. Gruder or another leading Energy Psychology practitioner, contact:
Dondi Dahlin ddahlin@energymed.org
Energy Medicine Institute
777 East Main Street
Ashland, OR 97520
541-482-1800 ext. 1 |
