Julia wrote:
As long as rigorous exercise is not emplored....this LP might help some children and adults.
The issue is considerably more complex.
Not only is the concern that children might be persuaded into self delusion or overestimation of how much physical and mental actvity they can safely cope with following the "training" but there are ethical issues here.
I would like you, Julia, if you would, to read through the application form.
http://www.changeworksforyou.com/applicationform.htm
Do you think it is reasonable that adults should be expected to sign up to these statements and beliefs before being accepted into a "seminar".
Why do you feel the LP process requires these questions to be answered?
Are these types of question asked of people about to embark on, for example, a course of CBT?
Do you feel children and young people have the emotional maturity to respond to those types of question?
Would you feel comfortable asking a child or young person to sign up to these?
If children and young people are not going to be expected to sign up to these, by what means are these children going to be evaluated for "readiness" for the "training" according to the LP program deliverers? And how is "readiness" being defined?
If they are not going to be "assessed" for "readiness" why do adults need to be "assessed" for "readiness"?
Some would consider that what is being presented as an "assessment for readiness" is, in reality, a precurser to a form of brainwashing, similar to that used in cults, to prepare the potential "trainee" for being receptive to suggestion and to responding positively when they actually attend the "training" sessions.
That creeps me out to put it bluntly.
Now if adults want to submit to that type of program that is their choice.
But children?
As young as eight?
From the MRC's Ethical Research Guidelines for research involving children:
"1.3 Summary of key ethical principles relating to research involving
children
Children require special protection because they are less likely than adults to be
able to express their needs or defend their interests – they may not have the
capacity to give consent.
The following principles should guide all MRC-funded research involving children: 4, 5
. Research should only include children where the relevant knowledge cannot by
obtained by research in adults (for guidance, see 4.1)"
Why has this study been approved when no research has yet been done on adults, to the best on my knowledge, other than the Findlay pilot?
Here is something else that causes me concern. The application form includes this:
"It is important for me to know about your general state of health both physically and mentally. To help me assess your suitability for the seminar please tell me if you have any medical or mental health issues that you have not yet mentioned on this form? If so, please list them. It is vital that I am aware of any pre-existing conditions and past or present diagnoses."
Leaving aside for one moment the issue of research into children, many of those deliverying LP sessions are former "trainees". Many will have had no prior background in medical settings or therapies (either regulated or unregulated).
Do you feel that LP "coaches" are qualified to "assess" whether pre-existing conditions and past or present diagnoses might indicate non suitability for the "training" in any given individual?
Does Parker publish a list of "pre-existing conditions and past or present diagnoses" which would preclude acceptance into the "training"?
We have seen an account on one of these three LP threads where an individual had reported being coerced into responding positively at the end of the "training".
We have one report of a "coach" allegedly claiming LP could cure cancer.
How did you feel about these accounts? What do these accounts say about the professionalism of those delivering the "training", the procedure for training "coaches" and the regulation by Parker of those undertaking training to become "coaches".
***sigh***