How to submit your update suggestions to the HG Integrity Group

If you would like to bring new evidence or insights you feel relevant for inclusion in human givens teaching and/or publications to the attention of the HG Integrity Group, please use the form below to provide us with the details.

Important

Please keep the information you are providing as brief and to the point as possible. The HG Integrity Group will use the information you provide as a starting point for investigation and may go on to read the research you reference and other relevant material. They may also wish to speak to you or to convene a small task group to investigate the matter further.

To make changes to the human givens ideas or to the way they are taught, we must be confident that our actions are informed by good evidence. Evidence can emerge from different types of investigation and experience (we are not just interested in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). However, for us to be convinced of the need for change, the weight and nature of the evidence must be persuasive and fit philosophically with the human givens approach.

There are several reasons for this. The first is that ideas can sometimes take on a life of their own, without solid evidence to support them and sometimes even in the face of evidence that the idea is incorrect. Numerous supposedly reputable newspapers have repeated such claims – for instance, the idea that oranges in supermarkets contain no vitamin C or that everyone has an individual learning style (visual, kinaesthetic etc.) despite the fact that both claims have been shown in multiple studies to be incorrect.

Secondly, we can become attracted to techniques or ideas because they are new to us – rather than because they are better than what we currently use, especially if they have been presented in a way that has raised our emotional arousal. This can lead practitioners to drop old, effective techniques for new, less effective ones, simply because these feel fresh and exciting to the practitioner. We must be sure that any new intervention is safe and more effective than what it is replacing.

Finally, any new learning must fit within the overall philosophy of the human givens organising ideas. Human givens therapy is a complete model that allows us to approach each individual client holistically. It is both strong and flexible.

When making a new suggestion it may help to consider:

When making a new suggestion it may help to consider:

  1. What is the evidence for this idea or practice? Where is it reported? Has the evidence been peer reviewed? What are the criticisms of those ideas – where do those criticisms appear and have they been peer reviewed?
  2. Is this idea or intervention more effective or accurate than the techniques or ideas we currently use?
  3. How does it fit within the human givens organising idea? What do other human givens practitioners think of this?

When considering any suggestion you may put forward, it is also important to make a distinction between the evidence itself and interpretation of the evidence. Authors of books sometimes interpret studies in a way that supports a general point that they are making, even though others may disagree with that interpretation.

Completing the form below

What you write will help the HG Integrity Group evaluate the information you are presenting. The guidance notes at the top of each section of the form should help you complete each one.

If you have any questions please contact us at [email protected]

For example, new ideas to incorporate into treatments for, say, addiction or anger, or new evidence relating to HG organising ideas, such as the expectation fulfilment theory of dreaming.
Does this….
Be clear about why you are raising this information. It is fine if it impacts on more than one category.
Please briefly describe what the evidence is, how it was uncovered and what the general implications appear to be. It is fine to use bullet points. Findings in research can sometimes contradict each other – if you are aware of contradictory findings or other interpretations of the evidence, please include that here too.
Do you believe that what you are presenting supports or enlarges on the human givens ideas or do you think a change is required? Please set out your reasoning here as briefly as possible.
Here we would like to know how much evidence there is in support of the issue you raise. How many studies support these findings – is it one or are there multiple studies confirming the original findings? Where are they published? Are there any systematic reviews or meta-analyses in this area?
Please provide the details of the evidence you are referring to, so that it can be followed up and read.
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