Welcoming a new WSB sponsor: Jenaya Van Horn

Today, our traditional WSB sponsor welcome goes out to Jenaya Van Horn, MA, LMFT, CMHS, whose West Seattle practice offers individual, couple, and group therapy. As you will see on Jenaya’s ad in the right sidebar — the one that is headed SAY NO MORE! — what she offers includes EFT Coaching, and here’s what she would like you to know: “The challenges we face are part of being human. They present us with opportunities to learn more about ourselves and the possibilities that life can hold. Attending to these can give our lives greater depth and make life more meaningful. This is often described as ‘work’; however, I prefer to see it as a labor of love. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, trained in EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and Lifespan Integration, two approaches that I have seen to be helpful in resolving depression, anxiety, relationship conflict, difficulty making or acting upon decisions, addictive or self-harming behaviors, anger, grief, trauma and transitions; more gently and quickly than talk therapy alone. If you are ready to enjoy a healthy, happy life with purpose and want to explore what you can do to make your life better or different, then let’s begin.” Thanks to Jenaya for supporting WSB; if you are interested in becoming a sponsor, the first step is to check out our Advertise page. That page lists all our current sponsors; we hope that if/when you do business with any of them, you will consider thanking them for supporting WSB, as we get closer to sustainability. Thank you, and thanks to all of them!

JanS February 6, 2008 (12:05 pm)

welcome Jen….you have an interesting practice. I’ve read some about EFT…fascinating stuff. Glad you’re here and supporting WSB :)

JT February 6, 2008 (3:56 pm)

Listed on quackwatch as a “treatment to avoid”. Also according to studies, you can tap on a doll and have the same results.

[4] This study compared four groups: A group that received regular EFT; a second group that tapped on sham points that were not EFT points; a third group that tapped on an inanimate object (a doll) and a fourth group that received no treatment. The first three groups did statistically better than the fourth group, but there were no significant differences between the three tapping groups. That is, the groups that tapped on sham points and on the doll did just as well as the EFT group, but all three groups did better than the no-treatment group. Since the group that used the doll was not tapping on meridian points yet still benefited equally, the authors suggested this as a falsification of the theory that EFT works because of the body’s energy meridian system.

WSB February 6, 2008 (4:15 pm)

JT, how familiar are you with Quackwatch? All I can find from viewing their site as a followup to your note is that its operators are critical of pretty much every form of alternative health care. (Let me know if you have seen a case in which they are not critical of something that’s nonconventional.)

JanS February 6, 2008 (4:50 pm)

Hmmm…I’m a massage therapist, and there are those that would debunk the value of massage. There’s always an argument as to whether we should be covered by insurance or not, since it’s only a “fluff” thing, and not a real treatment. Studies are always being done to show that there are viable results from what we do, and docs still don’t believe it. And look how long massage has been around. JT…if it’s not for you, that’s fine. You don’t have to go spend your hard earned cash on it. And the beat goes on……

JT February 6, 2008 (5:24 pm)

Jan massage is entirely different. You can measure the effects on tissue, both when it is effective and when it is contra-indicated. EFT has had only three small studies. The only one to show benefit was conducted by the company promoting energy therapy.

There is a lot about this field in the news recently with the FDA investigating another energy cure using expensive machines that turned out to be completely bogus. This is a field that IMO has shown to be nothing more than a temporary fix because you believe someone is doing something for you. All good and well if you have a small boo-boo, but again IMO when you’re dealing with matters of the mind, it can have serious consequences if someone goes in for some energy tapping instead of seeking professional psychological help. If you look at the info page for EFT itself, the disclaimer is longer than the explanation of the cure.

We sit and discuss things as mundane as who has terrible pizza. I think this issue warrants a closer look and if my post causes people to check things out thoroughly, I think that’s a good thing. And just FYI, I think proven alternative therapies are a great addition to our health care.

JT February 6, 2008 (6:36 pm)

WSB- sorry I forgot to respond to you. My familiarity of quackwatch.com stems from being involved with several elderly (80’s) people going through the natural aging process and declining health. Every week it seems they want to spend their measly social security check on some new infomercial miracle cure. It is just one of the sites I use to research their latest product or treatment plan. Most of the time they don’t care or listen (totally fine) but I’m the one who has to figure out what to do with their king size magnet bed when it didn’t work.
As for the site itself, read some of the entries more in depth. Just going by the list can be misleading. With massage for example, it is not the traditional aspects of it that they dispute, but rather the outlandish claims of curing diseases. And I don’t take any website as the last word, but they seem to be thorough with sources and links for follow up, so I find it useful.

Wes February 6, 2008 (7:07 pm)

Didn’t Oprah sell this as “The Secret”?

JanS February 6, 2008 (7:25 pm)

wes…The Secret is something else entirely…you’d have to research it yourself, but The Secret is more of a way of “being” instead of “being done to” (did that make sense?)

JT…how do you feel about Reiki? Therapeutic Touch? Reflexology, other modalities that work with meridians/chakras/energy systems in the body? I’m just curious…

JT February 6, 2008 (10:06 pm)

Jan, I think a lot of these things are more a belief system than anything else. I think any time a caring person provides attention whether it be prayer, therapeutic touch, or what have you, there is a corresponding sense of healing and well-being….I have a chronic illness and have tried many approaches for alleviating symptoms. I am especially fond of acupuncture, yet don’t believe it cures anything. For the needles not to hurt I have to really concentrate on relaxing my muscles. The relaxation in turn makes me feel better for a short while and I like that. Meditation has that effect. I also had a person do chakra work for a long time because they believed it worked. For me, it was another form of meditation that felt calming and relaxing. Rolfing I thought was absolutely horrific unless you’re into s&m. Wow, that was painful. My health insurance surprisingly paid for biofeedback and site specific ultrasound. Again, soothing, calming,relaxing, cured nothing….Don’t get me wrong, I think relaxation is very important. I specifically think mandatory massage would cure a great many social problems and less stress has certainly proven to reduce the effects of illness. I also think massage is very beneficial for certain injuries. In fact I wouldn’t even call massage alternative myself. I think of it as a part of traditional medicine that should be covered by insurance….Back to the others though, I think they are effective at making you feel better in the short term if you believe in them, but beyond that, hold no value. And by no value, I am again referring to curing something. I have a problem with someone saying if I rub your feet in a certain area, your diabetes, tumor, illness, etc. will go away. I am especially concerned with these quick fix offerings going out to persons with mental disorders. IMO they are preying on vulnerable persons for financial gain and a mistake in this area of health care can have very serious consequences….If you give a bad massage (strictly hypothetical), what are the ramifications? No tip. No return visits or referrals. Maybe a sore spot where you applied too much pressure. Now what are the ramifications of alternative therapies that promise cures? All of this of course is just “my belief”, cuz you asked.

Sue February 6, 2008 (10:21 pm)

JT, I’ve gone through rolfing twice (2 series of 10 sessions each) and it immensely helped a disabling back injury I had. It was worth every bit I had to endure of it to have the results I had.
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I’ll admit I’m not objective for the most part where alternative health modalities come into play. I’m certified as a Reiki practitioner, have participated in EFT, many other healing methods as well, and right now I’m actually in Canada taking a course in Health Kinesiology. My dad always said these things were scams and just placebos. My thought was, if you go in to a place with X symptons and you come out without those symptons, who cares if they really did anything? If you’re better, that was what your goal was and you achieved it. I have had many miraculous things happen as a result of alternative healing (including EFT, which is what started this conversation). The nice thing is that nobody is forcing anyone to do this and we can all make up our own minds about what works for us and what doesn’t.

Sue February 6, 2008 (10:25 pm)

Oh, and about curing things, I had a very large thyroid tumor that was biopsied several times, and after using alternative health modalities alone, when they went to biopsy it again they couldn’t find any tumor. Take that as you wish.

JT February 6, 2008 (11:26 pm)

Sue, I’ve heard of spontaneous tumor regression and I’m glad it happened for you and I hope it’s permanent. I agree that it’s irrelevant if you say it’s from alternative therapy and I say it isn’t. As long as you’re healthy, kudos to you. I did go through the whole cycle of rolfing as well. Someone else was paying for it. But I still cringe thinking about it. You’re braver than I to do it twice…. And as a life style per se, I do practice to each there own, do what works for you. I personally am skeptical of everything and don’t claim for a second for that to be a superior thought process. It just happens to be how I think, but I’m grateful you’re taking the time to talk to this non-believer anyway:). Same to you Jan.

Sorry, comment time is over.