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Sample the Skeptic's Dictionary

thought field therapy

Thought field therapy (TFT) is a New Age psychotherapy dressed up in the garb of traditional Chinese medicine. It was developed in 1981 by Dr. Roger Callahan, a cognitive psychologist. While treating a patient for water phobia:

He asked her to think about water, tap with two fingers on the point that connected with the stomach meridian and much to his surprise, her fear of water completely disappeared.*

Callahan attributes the cure to the tapping, which he thinks unblocked "energy" in her stomach meridian. I don't know how Callahan got the idea that tapping on a particular point would have anything to do with relieving a phobia, but he claims he has developed taps for just about anything that ails you, including a set of taps that can cure malaria (NPR interview).>>more

sample the Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids

therapeutic touch

Therapeutic touch is a kind of energy healing. Some people believe that health and sickness are caused by some sort of magical energy being blocked or out of whack in some way. There is no scientific support for this magical energy. It can't be measured by any of our very high tech machines. Yet, many people swear it exists and that they can move it around or transfer some of their energy into another person. >> more

a blast from the past

Our soldiers deserve better

8 Feb 2011. After our soldiers in Afghanistan are blown up by an IED that was not detected by a dowsing rod sold as a bomb detector, the injured soldiers are treated with battlefield acupuncture. Students of placebo medicine would probably identify the positive results reported as due mostly to the relaxation effect. Using acupuncture on the battlefield was initiated by Richard Niemtzow, M.D., an Air Force colonel. I wrote about his lack of controlled studies two years ago, but he's still collecting anecdotes from satisfied customers. He's got at least one news reporter on his side: battlefield acupuncture, writes Saeed Shah, is "helping heal soldiers with concussions so they can return more quickly to the front lines." How cool is that?>>more

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