What alternative health techniques are useful for psychological problems?
“Alternative” health methods have become increasingly popular in recent years. Contributing to this popularity may be impressive claims many such treatments make, usually without solid evidence of effectiveness. They may rely on unverified testimonials or simply the claims and charisma of practitioners (mesmerism is a historical example). Some temporary conditions are self-limiting (meaning they get better on there own). Furthermore, the placebo effect is quite strong, suggesting that improvement may occur simply if someone expects to get better regardless of the specific effectiveness of the particular treatment. It may be argued that there are no “alternative” methods, there are only proven, evidence-based techniques supported by solid placebo-controlled studies or unproven methods. What sets alternative techniques apart is that they have not been scientifically tested and their advocates usually deny the need for such testing (e.g., psychics, “energy transfer” or “rebirthing” method
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