Sakai et al. is not an adequate demonstration of TFT effectiveness

Abstract

Sakai et al. (2001) report an uncontrolled case series of TFT treatments applied to a wide range of psychological complaints in a large health maintenance facility. They analyze verbal report measures of symptom severity and conclude that the specific treatment is effective for a wide range of psychological problems. A review of the theory and research on TFT efficacy indicates that the theoretical basis for the specific treatment is unfounded and that adequately controlled efficacy research has yet to be conducted. The authors' conclusions about effectiveness and applicability are not supported by either theory, prior research, or the findings of their clinical application.

Regarding the October 2001Journal of Clinical Psychology special issue on Thought Field Therapy: Retraction of conclusions in the article “Heart rate variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice”

“…It should also be noted that my coauthor, Mark Steinberg, does not agree with my current position and stands by the conclusions stated in our article. I now agree with most of the major points made in the critiques of the articles relevant to mine (Herbert & Gaudiano, 2001;Kline, 2001;Lohr, 2001;McNally, 2001). These critiques pointed out flaws that included selection of only successful cases; focus on a diversity of problems; failure to use a control group; failure to control for placebo effect, demand characteristics, and regression to the mean; lack of valid assessment measures; use of the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUD) as the only measure of efficacy other than HRV; inappropriate use of an out-of-context physiological measure (HRV); and lack of a credible theory.…”

Detailed measurements of the electron cyclotron current drive efficiency on DIII-D

“…Up to four gyrotron oscillators operating at 110 GHz are used in these experiments, with a maximum combined power of 2.1 MW injected into DIII-D [45,46,47]. After the non-Gaussian output from the gyrotron is converted to a Gaussian beam suitable for coupling to a transmission line, the power is transmitted to the tokamak by a windowless evacuated corrugated waveguide with an overall transmission efficiency of 70%-85%.…”

Acupoint Stimulation in Treating Psychological Disorders: Evidence of Efficacy

“…These assertions, publicly stated prior to corresponding research support or persuasive explanatory models-combined with odd-looking procedures such as tapping on the skin-led to emphatic skepticism in the clinical community (e.g., Devilly, 2005;Herbert & Gaudiano, 2001;Lohr, 2001;McNally, 2001). Three early large-scale pilot studies were particularly provocative because their purported speed and success rates surpassed any treatment in the clinical literature for the conditions being addressed.…”

“…Paired pre-and posttreatment t-tests of patient reports of subjective distress, the primary outcome measure utilized, showed statistically significant improvement at the .001 level of confidence for 28 presenting problems or diagnostic categories (including, for example, anxiety, bereavement, chronic pain, depression, food cravings, obsessive traits, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder) and at .01 for three other conditions (alcohol cravings, major depressive disorder, and tremors). While the investigators were careful to emphasize that their findings constituted only "preliminary data that call for controlled studies to examine validity, reliability, and maintenance of effects over time" (p. 1229), their report was met with strong criticism or outright incredulity from the professional community (e.g., Lohr, 2001).…”