Robert Todd Carroll
Teacher ignorant of the placebo effect and cold reading thinks he can cure troubled youth with EFT America's dumbest videos: Craig Brockie demonstrates EFT
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Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)Emotional Freedom Techniques is the creation of Gary Craig, an
energy healer who would fit well in any New Age
Subtle energies is the scientific term for chi (prana, ki, orgone), those mysterious energies that are in constant need of balancing, harmonizing, unblocking, channeling, funneling, and transferring in order to maintain perfect health. If you doubt Gary's word, you can read the testimonials from dozens of people who have been cured of everything under the sun by this fabulous therapy. You'll feel welcome at Gary's site. He's loving and caring, as are all his staff. And you matter. He treats the person, not the disease. Let's cut to the chase. Basically, Gary's discovered what traditional healers have known for millennia: if you can relax people, they become suggestible and you can relieve their stress, ease their minds, and allow their bodies to heal themselves. Gary's discovery came when he found out he could cure people by using acupuncture without the needles. He stimulates so-called energy meridian points on the body by tapping them with his fingertips. This kind of therapy is attractive to many people because it uses no drugs. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be any side effects. It apparently did not occur to Gary that maybe he had tapped into the placebo effect or the power of suggestion. He may even be using cold reading techniques without being aware of it. Why accept simple psychological explanations when a complex mystical one is available? Of course, the gimmick wouldn't be complete if Gary didn't remind us that he knows about ancient wisdom (he is following a time-honored Eastern tradition that has been around for over 5,000 years, he says, though acupuncture has not been around nearly that long. It has a recorded history of about 2,000 years.*). Plus, Gary knows about modern science. He says Albert Einstein "told us back in the 1920's that everything (including our bodies) is composed of energy." (This is the golden rule for New Age quacks: when in doubt, quote Einstein and mention quantum physics.) Thirdly, Gary tells us that "these ideas have been largely ignored by Western Healing Practices." (He should have added "with good reason.") What Gary forgets to tell us is that the so-called subtle energy of acupuncture has nothing in common with the energy in E=mc2. When you unblock that kind of energy you get nuclear weapons or power, not miraculous health cures. The reason these ideas have been largely ignored by conventional Western doctors is because they are nonsensical. Both the meridians and the subtle energy that supposedly flows along them are mythical entities. If Gary's methods are helping anyone, it is because he is touching them, relaxing them, reducing their stress. Bob Park explains very simply and clearly how the placebo effect works in contexts like EFT:
So, the metaphysical mumbo jumbo that accompanies Gary Craig's tapping with his fingers is unnecessary baggage. He could tell you to take two of these little blue pills twice a day for two weeks and probably have just as many satisfied customers as the EFT folks. One difference, however, is that we have a way to test whether those little blue pills are a placebo or not. But we cannot do a randomized, double-blind controlled experiment on subtle energy being unblocked along meridians by either the insertion of needles or the tapping of fingers. This is good because nobody can do a scientific test to prove that EFT is bunk. In case you're wondering whether Gary Craig is another medical doctor gone astray, the answer is no. He tells us on his website that he is "a Stanford engineering graduate and an ordained minister and, although we don't pound the table for God here, I do come at this procedure from a decidedly spiritual perspective." I feel safer already. His mentor was Dr. Roger Callahan, the inventor of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). The theory behind TFT is that negative emotions cause energy blockage and if the energy is unblocked then the fears will disappear. Tapping acupressure points is thought to be the means of unblocking the energy. Allegedly, it only takes five to six minutes to elicit a cure. Dr. Callahan claims an 85% success rate. He even does cures over the phone using "Voice Technology" on infants and animals. He claims that by analyzing the voice he can determine what points on the body the patient should tap for treatment. You can take Callahan's course in Voice Technology for a mere $100,000. As you have no doubt surmised by now, Mr. Craig is a great judge of character. See also EMDR and Rorschach inkblot test. further reading
Dawes, Robyn M. House of Cards - Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth, (New York: The Free Press, 1994). Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. Oxford U. Press. |
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©copyright 2007 Robert Todd Carroll |
Last updated 08/01/08 | ||
borough.
Gary is always smiling and happy
because he has found the cause and cure for
almost everything, and he really wants to help you. He loves
you and cares for you. How do I know? He says so on his
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