Posted by Larry Hoover on July 27, 2004, at 15:27:14
In reply to Re: scientific research » Ilene, posted by pegasus on July 27, 2004, at 14:42:45
> Yes, absolutely, it's nice to have proof, if you can get it. I'm just saying that if you limit yourself to pursuing treatments that are "proven" to be effective, then you might miss something that would be effective that hasn't been proven. Which is a shame if the treatments that do have proof don't happen to work in your particular case. Because it's notoriously difficult to study psychological treatments (because of the internal and subjective nature of most of the processes and results), most available treatments don't have scientific proof to back them up.
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> Also, as a scientist, I'd like to point out that scientific proof is a rare and elusive beast. Most research is limited in scope and applicable only to the narrow conditions included in the particular study. Most research only points in particular directions, rather than proving anything.
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> Personally, I've had great results with types of treatments that do not have scientific proof backing them up. And yet, I think we all need to make that call for ourselves. If you think it's best to rely only on proven treatments, then that is definitely what you should do, and I wholeheartedly support that. Just realize that there may be valid reasons for others to make other decisions.
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> pegasusWell put. Hear! Hear!
If I may be so bold as to extend your comments....We have no objective proof of pain. We have no objective proof of major depression. We have no objective proof of fatigue. We have no idea if different individuals are even talking about the same thing when we they use those terms. Declaring a disorder or a treatment to be subjective may well be a true statement, but that does not make such a declaration, in order to dismiss or trivialize the experience of anybody else, fair, valid, or responsible.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:368898
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040723/msgs/371287.html