The therapy wars cont... dynamic treatment finds its mojo

Fun article in the Guardian about debate between Psychoanalysis and CBT with the inevitable push back that maybe CBT isn't the end all be all. Some good context, but also a lot of errors and oversights (which can be expected in the scientific press). Of course, there is a scientific alternative to the ongoing battle between those two camps ...maybe they're both wrong.

"A FEW YEARS AGO, AFTER CBT HAD STARTED TO DOMINATE TAXPAYER-FUNDED THERAPY IN BRITAIN, A WOMAN I’LL CALL RACHEL, FROM OXFORDSHIRE, SOUGHT THERAPY ON THE NHS FOR DEPRESSION, FOLLOWING THE BIRTH OF HER FIRST CHILD. SHE WAS SENT FIRST TO SIT THROUGH A GROUP POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, PROMISING FIVE STEPS TO “IMPROVE YOUR MOOD”; THEN SHE RECEIVED CBT FROM A THERAPIST AND, IN BETWEEN SESSIONS, VIA COMPUTER. “I DON’T THINK ANYTHING HAS EVER MADE ME FEEL AS LONELY AND ISOLATED AS HAVING A COMPUTER PROGRAM ASK ME HOW I FELT ON A SCALE OF ONE TO FIVE, AND – AFTER I’D CLICKED THE SAD EMOTICON ON THE SCREEN – TELLING ME IT WAS ‘SORRY TO HEAR THAT’ IN A PRERECORDED VOICE,” RACHEL RECALLED. COMPLETING CBT WORKSHEETS UNDER A HUMAN THERAPIST’S GUIDANCE WASN’T MUCH BETTER. “WITH POSTNATAL DEPRESSION,” SHE SAID, “YOU’VE GONE FROM A SITUATION IN WHICH YOU’VE BEEN WORKING, EARNING YOUR OWN MONEY, DOING INTERESTING THINGS – AND SUDDENLY YOU’RE AT HOME ON YOUR OWN, MOSTLY COVERED IN SICK, WITH NO ADULT TO TALK TO.” WHAT SHE NEEDED, SHE SEES NOW, WAS REAL CONNECTION: THAT FUNDAMENTAL IF HARD-TO-EXPRESS SENSE OF BEING HELD IN THE MIND OF ANOTHER PERSON, EVEN IF ONLY FOR A SHORT PERIOD EACH WEEK."