The need for reappraising psychological therapies in the light of IAPT

The government IAPT plan reveals a welcome determination to tackle the country's mental health problems in a comprehensive manner ‐ especially by using evidence‐based psychological therapies to improve quality of life and prevent mental/emotional problems worsening. Unfortunately, despite encouraging all alternative psychological therapy bodies to submit evidence, the scales are already heavily weighted in favour of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in that it is already largely considered the only evidence‐based therapy by most NHS mental health authorities. There are also signs of an ill‐informed, media‐lead, groundswell of public opinion headed in the same direction ‐ which might well ultimately influence patient choice.While acknowledging the value of CBT, there is a strong case that alternative psychological therapies, by directly addressing the root causes of problems, can achieve far better results ‐ especially in the longer term. Unfortunately, the other disciplines frequently present as poor alternatives ‐ not least because of their disparate, sometimes archaic, foundational dogmas, and the alleged potential cost of their treatment. Fortunately, much dogma can now be updated in the light of neuroscience, and the time factors can be shortened, thus rapidly paving the way for a new, more unified, approach to mental health therapy; with potentially successful treatment across all categories of patient.