So, I'm back. And I have to talk to you about Evidenced-Based Practices or EBPs. In Ontario, Canada and many other Western nations (such as the United States and Australia) there seems to be a widespread movement among larger, and some smaller scale, community organizations which are going to implement the use of evidenced based therapies. What are evidenced based therapies? Well, they are types of therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT and brief solutions therapies, that have been researched and shown to be effective in these (limited!) research studies. I say limited, because they are few in number, they use samples that are homogenous (people that are of very similar backgrounds), and they are FILLED with methodological and, in my opinion, conceptual flaws. They claim to be "scientific", yet they are based on bias, subjectivity, and expectations, as is everything. Meanwhile, although there is research on alternative therapies, such as multicultural, feminist, dynamic, narrative, client-centered, and other therapies that attempt to grasp the complexities of human beings, this research is not privileged by funders. Why? (PS- In the particular organization that I am working for, they are moving to the complete use of EBPs as it is mandated by the Ontario provincial government as that is where their main funding source derives).

The reason why I am so disheartened by this EBP movement, is that I feel it is a movement that seeks to control people rather then help people. It's a "do this, do that" style of therapy, a quick fix, a McDonald's kind of therapy. I am currently involved in using an EBP, which is called multisytemic therapy or MST. It may seem hypocritical that the very thing I am challenging, I am taking part in. While, yes, this is true on the one hand, on the other I do not practice with families in the typical MST fashion, as I regularly challenge the linear, do this/do that philosophy. And so many therapists do challenge these kinds of therapies and do not always follow their guidelines. Put it this way, if therapists were to practice in a concrete MST or CBT fashion, they would become manualized drones and would miss the entire human experience. Not only that, but stringent alliance with current EBPs will harm those who the therapist is working with. For example, in CBT, it is believed that "irrational" or "dysfunctional" thoughts are what maintains psychological "problems". What if I were to tell you that it is because of your "irrational thought" that you have problems. How would you respond to that?? EBPs do not take into account that maybe in one person, culture, or society what is seen as "irrational" is not in another person, culture or society. And whose to say what is dysfuntional? Literally! Who are the people that are able to decide what is dysfunctional or irrational? Again, mainstream EBPs have been created by upper-class white men, with CASH. How do they keep and add to the cash? By control. Control of the helping professions, control of the organizations that want to help, control of the helpers, and ultimately, control of the people who are being helped.

Check this article out:

http://www.aes.asn.au/conferences/2004/TH7%20Crisante,%20L.pdf