Promoting an empiricist agenda within the human services: An ethical and humanistic imperative

Counter-controls which could be adopted by the various professional associations, state licensing boards, accreditation bodies, and service providers have the potential to move human services in the direction of becoming a truly empirical clinical science.

Abstract

Various meta-contingencies inadvertently promote the perpetuation of bogus psychotherapies and other human service interventions. This article outlines some of these perverse incentives and describes counter-controls which could be adopted by the various professional associations, state licensing boards, accreditation bodies, and service providers. These counter-controls have the potential to move human services in the direction of becoming a truly empirical clinical science. This would directly enhance the ethical appropriateness and humanistic goals of the human service professions.