Psychology- Science Vs Pseudoscience and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as Treatment

Psychology- Science Vs Pseudoscience and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as Treatment

The definition of pseudoscience has defeated many and also its distinctions from real science are what many wonder. This article will address this issue. It is vital to know the definitions of the two fields so as to be able to distinguish them. It will also focus whether this pseudoscience assists in the medical field and what kind of disorders this form of science can be applied. In addition it will look at CBT and its effectiveness medical field an d especially the kind of disorders it handles.

Science versus Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience

Pseudo means fake or not real. Pseudoscience therefore refers to a process which attempts to take the attributes of science (Lower, 2008). According to Still & Dryden (2004), the concept of pseudoscience is applied to the activities, claims and ideas that are commonly seen as wacky and peculiar, have a large following for a short period (Still & Dryden, 2004).On the other hand science is a Latin word which means a process of acquiring knowledge. This process uses observation and experimentation to be able to give explanation of any natural phenomenon.

Characteristics that distinguish pseudoscience from "real" science

As compared to science, Pseudoscience is not based on facts. It is not based on research and investigation; instead it is based on subjective validation. Finn et al., (2005) suggest of time which does not progress. They fail as actual science. It's falsifiable and calls "pseudoscience" that the first, and most convincing, sign of pseudoscience is that it claims that the results of the treatments are not testable rather they are measured by direct observation (Finn et al., 2005).Pseudoscience starts with a hypothesis which appeals emotionally and that has no scientific validity, reliability and is not backed by facts but it is rationalized with beliefs (Park, 2000). They support their ideas based on unverifiable stories, eyewitness accounts, and rumors. Pseudoscience is illogical and based on principles of human culture, religion, and traditions which vary from country to country, for instance (astronomy and fortune telling) (Nolen, 2008). In addition pseudoscience also concerns itself with ideological as well as cultural objectives yet science is basically based on achievement of complete and constant understanding of the world.

Science on the other hand takes into action intense research before coming up with a conclusion yet pseudoscience has not done much ever since it came into place. When there are disputes about any data, the scientists do not stop but go ahead and research the more. Yet in the field of pseudoscience, if there is any inconsistence, they normally ignore or suppress the idea. Scientific information is usually, clear with no ambiguity yet pseudoscience is normally characterized by vague as well as ambiguous terms (Lower, 2008). On the contrary still, science is based on research and experiment. It is based on factual data that can be tested for validity and reliability. Reliability is when an individual gets consistent results if the experiment was to be repeated many times. Real science is progressing. It is objective and is a product of research and experiment and not elementary fallacy.

Concerns about pseudoscientific psychological treatments

Since pseudoscience is a fake science and it is mostly based on believe, religion, history and fairy tales, it is possible that instead of being helpful and beneficial it proves harmful and malignant. The issue is critical specially when applied to a medical setting. It is possible that a patient can be severely harmed if pseudoscience is the main force behind the treatment and the treatment protocol is not experimentally verified to be harmless. As well, in a society the excessive use of pseudoscience in many walks of life can be toxic. Still et al, 2004, suggests that pseudoscience pollution may destroy our physical environment even prior to industrial and traffic pollution.

Example of a pseudoscientific psychological treatment

According to Nolen-Hoekesema& Neil (2008), during the Stone Age if a person displayed abnormal behaviour, it was believed that the evil spirit had infiltrated the brain of the person. For treatment, they cracked a hole in the skull of the person and were believed that the evil spirit will leave through the hole. This treatment was called trephination (Nolen-Hoekesema, & Neil 2008, p. 10). It is apparent that this pseudoscientific ritual was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Today we know by real scientific experiments and commonsense that cracking someone's skull open does not help with any psychiatric treatment, rather it kills them by infection.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behaviour therapy is a psychological therapy which consists of cognitive and behaviour. The goal of CBT is to assist clients in recognizing their irrational maladaptive negative thoughts that are affecting their thoughts and emotion. CBT will teach clients strategies and techniques to alter and overcome their maladaptive thoughts. According to Nolen-Hoekesema, & Neil (2008), cognitive behaviour therapy is helping a client replacing maladaptive thinking behaviour with more adaptive way of thinking (Nolen-hoekesema, & Neil, 2008, p. 145).

Techniques that are used in CBT

Several techniques are used for cognitive behavioral therapy such as: Behavioral assignment, taking control, exposure (exposure and response prevention, modeling, flooding, repeated exposure), systematic desensitization, and systematic positive reinforcement. Each of the mentioned treatment is applied differently according to the disorder the therapist has diagnosed. For example "exposure therapy"; for obsessive compulsive disorder is to expose the person by touching the areas that client feel is dirty such as touching the washroom door or commode without washing their hands; for phobia the client is exposed to the object or anything that the client is fearful of. For example someone who is scared of the spider is either introduced to the spider slowly or all at once. There are different ways of treating phobias. One treatment doesn't work for everyone so trying out different treatments and being flexible is important.

For what psychological disorders is CBT effective on average?

According to the literature review done by Munro, et al., (2005) it suggests that CBT is a helpful way of treatment. Also it is perceived as an acceptable intervention by most clients (Munro, et al., 2005).Panic disorder, Anxiety disorder, Post traumatic stress disorder, Stress disorder, Obsessive compulsive disorder, Somatoform and dissociate disorder, Mood disorder, Childhood disorder, Eating disorder and communication disorder are examples that CBT has helped in their treatment (Finn, et al., 2005). Insomnia in men is also reported to have been treated succefully by use of CBT (Tyagi, 2007). On the contrary, there are patients suffering from bulimia who do not respond to CBT. These categories of individuals are those that suffer from personality disorders. It is important therefore for a therapist to find out why a patient is not responding to CBT after which he or she can apply axis II condition (Michael, 2000).

The distinction line between Pseudoscience is evident from the characteristics that the two fields possess. Science is an important way of explaining natural phenomena as it has valid reasons to any idea it gives. Pseudoscience has also been a source of several disputes especially in its application in the medical field. CBT is portrayed by research that it has assisted in the treatment of several disorders and has been very effective though there are few cases of it being ineffective.

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