Evidence for the Human Givens Approach

The British Psychological Society’s leading peer-reviewed journal, Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, published a 12-month evaluation in 2011 of the Human Givens approach in primary care at a general medical practice.

The result showed that more than three out of four patients were either symptom-free or reliably changed due to HG therapy. This was achieved in an average of only 3.6 sessions, significantly better than the recovery rate published for the UK government’s flagship IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) programme, which uses therapists trained in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

In 2012 PTSD Resolution, a charity that uses Human Givens therapists to help war veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health problems, reported an 83 per cent success rate in resolving these issues (findings presented to the British Psychological Society).

http://www.bps.org.uk/news/trauma-awareness-programme-helps-war-veterans-return-work

In September 2012, the Mental Health Review published two peer-reviewed academic papers showing the effectiveness of the Human Givens approach. The first involved the treatment of mild to moderate depression, and the second the therapeutic value of the Human Givens Emotional Needs Audit tool. This research work was done by a distinguished team of academics, Dr Anna Tsaroucha, Professor Paul Kingston, Director of the Centre for Ageing and Mental Health; Dr Ian Walton, General Practitioner and Professor Tony Stewart, Professor in Public Health. It was also independently peer-reviewed.

The Mental Health Review is an influential, high-quality source of information and intelligence for researchers, managers, commissioners, purchasers and practitioners working in mental health so that the content will be noticed. We hope it will also be acted upon, especially since it reveals that huge savings could be made if more widely adopted the Human Givens approach.

Following this review, the academics recommend that the NHS adopt the HG model as a bona fide model of therapy in its own right.

You can read the original papers on the Mental Health Review website by clicking the following links:

Assessing the effectiveness of the “human givens” approach in treating depression (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13619321211270416)

The emotional needs audit (ENA): a report on its reliability and validity (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13619321211270407)

The Human Givens Institute (HGI) is both a membership organisation open to those wishing to support and promote the human givens approach through all forms of psychological, educational and social interactions and the professional body representing the interests of those in the caring and teaching professions who work in alignment with the best scientific knowledge available about the givens of human nature.