Novel unsupported and empirically supported therapies: patterns of usage among licensed clinical social workers.

Background: While considerable attention has been focused in recent years on evidence-based practice, less attention has been placed on clinical social workers' choice to use ineffective or harmful interventions, referred to in the present paper as Novel Unsupported Therapies (NUSTs).

Method: The present study surveyed 400 Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) across the United States in order to determine the extent of their usage of NUSTs, as well as their usage of conventional therapies that lacked support and empirically supported therapies (ESTs). Reasons for selecting interventions were also assessed.

Science and pseudoscience in developmental disabilities: guidelines for social workers.

Individuals with a developmental disability can now be provided a variety of empirically supported treatments that have been shown to be useful in promoting educational attainments, social and vocational skills, and self-care, and in reducing behavioral problems. Unfortunately, a large number of pseudoscientific or bogus therapies continue to be offered to this population and their families. We review the characteristics of pseudoscientific and bogus treatments and provide several examples of unsupported or harmful interventions offered by contemporary social workers and other human service professionals, to the detriment of people with disabilities.

Is longer-term psychodynamic psychotherapy more effective than shorter-term therapies? Review and critique of the evidence.

Background: In 2008, Leichsenring and Rabung performed a meta-analysis of 8 studies of longer-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP). The work was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (vol. 300, pp 1551-1565), and they concluded that LTPP was more effective than shorter-term therapies.

Some comments on "Energy psychology: A review of the evidence": Premature conclusions based on incomplete evidence?

A review of the evidence on energy psychology (EP) was published in this journal (see record 2008-07317-008). Although Feinstein's stated intention of reviewing the evidence is one we support, we noted that important EP studies were omitted from the review that did not confirm the claims being made by EP proponents. We also identify other problems with the review, such as the lack of specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, misportrayal of criticism of EP, incorrectly characterizing one of the studies as a randomized clinical trial, and lack of disclosure regarding an EP-related business.

Regarding the October 2001 Journal of Clinical Psychology special issue on Thought Field Therapy: retraction of conclusions in the article "heart rate variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice".

This article is a retraction of the conclusions drawn in a previous article, published as part of a special October 2001 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology on Thought Field Therapy (TFT). I decided to write this retraction after reconsidering a number of issues raised in the critiques of the articles. Additionally, subsequent misinterpretations of the literature on heart rate variability (HRV) by Roger Callahan, which led to further questioning of his premises and claims regarding TFT and HRV as represented in the articles, are discussed.

Callahan fails to meet the burden of proof for Thought Field Therapy claims.

Callahan's response evades the key issues raised by merely restating and elaborating upon what has already been said, providing citations that are out of context and irrelevant to the issues at hand, and misrepresenting what was actually said by his critics and me and the authors of articles he cites. He spends paragraphs refuting "straw men." He provides additional anecdotes, which offer no convincing evidence for his claims.

Assessing medical students' training in end-of-life communication: a survey of interns at one urban teaching hospital.

Purpose: Although interns are responsible for caring for dying patients, little is known about end-of-life education and training, including communication skills, in U.S. medical schools.

Can a pain management and palliative care curriculum improve the opioid prescribing practices of medical residents?

Background: Although opioids are central to acute pain management, numerous studies have shown that many physicians prescribe them incorrectly, resulting in inadequate pain management and side effects. We assessed whether a case-based palliative medicine curriculum could improve medical house staff opioid prescribing practices.

Design: Prospective chart review of consecutive pharmacy and billing records of patients who received an opioid during hospitalization before and after the implementation of a curricular intervention, consisting of 10 one-hour case-based modules, including 2 pain management seminars.