Q. The whole approach looks very unscientific to me, how do you explain that?

answer » A. I suppose any back-to-basics approach, one founded on simple laws governing all life forms and every human society will appear 'unscientific'. Storytelling as a therapeutic process may look unscientific, but it is one factor inherent in societies that have little or no depression. As it turns out, the pre-language, pre-thought dream process uses imagery and metaphor so storytelling helps us model the benefits for emotional health that dreaming provides. Fortunately, the Human Givens ideas were embraced or discarded on what works, not according to some arbitrary notion of what appears scientific.

Q. Are your fees claimable from Medicare?

answer » A. No. It will be some years before the approach is widespread enough to be recognised as a mainstream treatment.

Q. My husband has just lost his job after 28 years. He has lost all interest in life. He says he is not depressed, but I say he is. Could you help him?

answer » A. It might be useful for your husband to know that in our culture, work is a major source of meaning for us; it meets important emotional needs as well as income. So rather than focus on whether he is or isn't depressed, he might feel more hopeful and better able to cope with the changes in his life if new ways of getting those needs met were explored and tried.

Q. I have a close friend suffering from post-natal depression and nothing seems to have worked for her. What would you do that was different?

answer » A. Firstly, don't underestimate your capacity as 'close friend' to influence change. It could be that your understanding of what depression is -- an imbalance between high energy REM sleep and slow wave restorative sleep; and what causes it -- excessive worrying over needs not being met (including, with a newborn, the need for sleep) could be very helpful for your friend. This could engender a sense of control in your friend. Depression is bad enough without the feeling of powerlessness as well.
My approach would be to create this sense of hope and control in the first session, and in the two or three follow-up sessions, support those strategies that increase the likelihood of physical and emotional needs being met in that period of change that newborns bring.

Q. How soon can I expect to feel better?

answer » A. I have had people feel noticeably better the next day -- especially those who put in place some activity that gave them a feeling of completion or pleasure following the therapy session. This activity, as well as the relaxing therapy session can lead to a better nights' sleep and raises the likelihood of feeling refreshed and ready to do things the next day. Emotions prepare us for action, they have an expectation that action will mean needs being met. Activity that discharges this expectation is better than the unfulfilled expectations and unmet needs caused by inactivity and worry.

Q. How long does a therapy session last?

answer » A. Allow two hours for the initial consultation, and about 90 minutes for any follow-up sessions.

Q. What is your success rate; have all your patients got better?

answer » A. I am part of a major study in the UK to collect practice-based-evidence and my results are comparable to other Human Givens practitioners. Not all people benefit from the therapy. Human Givens therapy is not a magic cure. It relies on people taking control again and attending to their emotional health once they understand depression better and know how to avoid it. Similar to the recommendation a GP would make about diet, exercise, lifestyle, if the patient does not make the changes known to make a difference, the condition will continue unchanged.

Q. Are you claiming some people choose to remain depressed?

answer » A. That's a pretty harsh claim to make to someone suffering depression; someone feeling powerless to beat this lousy feeling that has taken all drive and joy out of life. However, life is a mixture of choices and conditioning, and we are all paying attention to something; attaching meaning to it; and acting as a result of what we focus on and what it means to us. It appears that despite the best therapeutic intervention, some people continue to focus on the belief that there is something biologically or chemically wrong with them; meaning that the cure will come from something or someone providing it for them; resulting in action that leaves them feeling powerless to do anything different. I don't call that choice as much as conditioning.

Q. I find it nearly impossible to relax. Will this therapy work for me?

answer » A. People all differ in their ability to relax. However it is a natural process and for some people, it just takes a little longer for them to tap into that innate ability.

Q. Is guided imagery like hypnosis?

answer » A. They are similar in that a deep state of relaxation or trance enables changes to be made at the pre-conscious or emotional brain level. The Human Givens approach has taken a lot of the mystique out of trance and regards it as a completely normal state of focused attention. Griffin claims that the sign of a healthy mind is the ability to go into and out of trance. An inability to go into trance reduces our capacity to learn, characterised by such conditions as ADHD. An inability to go out of trance is a characteristic of behavioural addiction.

Q. What are the risks, or what could go wrong with this type of therapy?

answer » A. Among Human Givens therapists, the major risk is for people to change their medication without first consulting their doctor. Often prompted by feeling better, they just leave off taking their medication instead of gradually reducing the amount. All patients sign a statement confirming that any medication change remains the responsibility of the prescribing doctor.

Q. How can you say that depression is not a chemical imbalance in the brain?

answer » A. While not universally accepted yet, the evidence for depression being a chemical imbalance is simply not there. Any reference to it being so has been removed from the Beyond Blue website. The case for the chemical model has been weakened with the evidence that medication is only marginally better than a placebo, and the fact that depression is on the rise despite increased rates of anti-depressant medication.