Best Practices

During the weekend, out of curiosity, I decided to see how many times articles on EMDR were seen in the Toledo Blade Newspaper. It was just once and the emphasis was on a scientific explanation on how it worked. As an EMDR therapist I thought the fact that it did work was somewhat over shadowed by humor and scientific explanation. This brings to mind the thought that if people needed to understand the interaction of protons, neutrons, and electrons before they turned on a light bulb, most of us would still be sitting in the dark.

For some reason the research community dictates 'best practices." "Best practices" is a concept that certain theraputic approaches should be used for certain diagnoses in mental health. It is like generic medication should be used rather than name brands. For example in mental health practice, "Cognitive Behavioral" is the treatment of choice for depression. In my experience, when a technique is appropriate you use it. The objective of therapy is to help the client.