From
ASAs assessment on LP:
On the issue of LP and CBT
2. the claim on the FAQ page that "The Lightning Process is completely unique" could be substantiated; and
Response from Phil Parker Group Ltd
2. Phil Parker Group said the LP had been designed solely by Phil Parker. They said he had no direct knowledge of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or graded exercise therapy (GET) but that they believed GET encouraged a pacing approach to generally increasing the patient's exercise capacity, which was completely unlike the LP, which was not an exercise therapy.
They stated that CBT was a very broad field with very few accepted standard prescribed approaches, whereas the LP was a standardised training programme which meant a visit to a practitioner anywhere in the world should result in receiving the same training, material, tools and coaching. They said one of the core CBT approaches was a conscious evaluation, engagement and self-analysis of how the individual had been thinking about something; a recognition of how that might not have been the best way of thinking about it and a consideration of other ways of thinking. They explained that this was very unlike the LP approach which worked in training the individual to recognise any unhelpful ways of thinking; to disengage, avoid self-analysis and immersion in those ways of thinking and instead utilise a set of specific and standardised LP questions and physical movements to create new approaches to situations.
Assessment from ASA
2. Not upheld
We understood that GET and CBT were the two treatments for CFS/ME used within the NHS. We understood that GET was a structured exercise programme that aimed to increase gradually how long a person could carry out a physical activity. We understood that the LP involved only low intensity physical movements, the purpose of which were not to expand the body's capacity for exercise, and we considered that it therefore differed significantly from GET.
Although we considered that there appeared to be similarities between CBT and the LP, in that both attempted to provide people with new ways of thinking about the issues presented by their illness, we noted LP incorporated elements of hypnosis and meditation, as well as low intensity physical movement, and we considered that it therefore differed sufficiently from CBT to be regarded as "unique".
On this point, we investigated the website under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation), but did not find it in breach.
