Purple hat therapy explained

Purple hat therapy refers to any medical practice in which an established form of therapy is mixed with an unlikely new addition (such as wearing a purple hat) and then is claimed to be effective because of the new addition, when in fact the effectiveness is due to the established component.^[1]

Origin and description

The term "purple hat therapy" was coined by Gerald Rosen and Gerald Davison in their 2003 paper, Psychology should list empirically supported principles of change (ESPs) and not credential trademarked therapies or other treatment packages.^[2] The therapy is accepted as effective because it is assessed overall; the additional element of the "purple hat" is not tested as distinct and does not need to prove its extra worth.^[3] Its invention is followed by the publication of papers discussing it and special training courses.^[4]

In addition to introducing unnecessary elements into the treatment, purple hat therapies can hinder the scientific understanding of effective treatments for the condition in question.^[5]

Application

Purple hat therapy has been used as an analogue for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing since it takes established exposure therapy and adds non-science based activities such as eye movement as a "purple hat".^[6]

See also

• Fallacy of composition
• Stone soup

Sources

• Herbert JD . The Science and Practice of Empirically Supported Treatments . Behavior Modification . SAGE Publications . 27 . 3 . 2003 . 0145-4455 . 10.1177/0145445503027003008 . 412–430 . 12841591 . 16489384 .
• Book: Mercer J . Cambridge University Press . Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: A Skeptical Field Guide . Hupp S . Chapter 12: Trauma and attachment . 7 March 2019 . 172–188 . 9781107175310.
• Book: Neudeck P, Wittchen HU . Exposure Therapy. Chapter 1: Introduction: Rethinking the ModelRefining the Method . Neudeck P, Wittchen HU . Springer . 2012 . 978-1-4614-3341-5 . 10.1007/978-1-4614-3342-2_1 . 1st.
• Rosen GM, Davison GC . Psychology should list empirically supported principles of change (ESPs) and not credential trademarked therapies or other treatment packages . Behav Modif . 27 . 3 . 300–12 . July 2003 . 12841586 . 10.1177/0145445503027003003 . 19587519 .
• Book: Exposure Treatments for Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner's Guide to Concepts, Methods, and Evidence-Based Practice . Rosquist . 2005 . Routledge . 9781136915772.
• Tolin DF . Advances in the identification of empirically supported psychological treatments. . Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice . American Psychological Association (APA) . 27 . 4 . 2020 . 1468-2850 . 10.1111/cpsp.12356 . 225700536 .
• Book: Tryon WT . Cognitive Neuroscience And PsychotherapyNetwork Principles for a Unified Theory . Elsevier . 2014 . 9780124200982.

Further reading

• Book: Pseudoscience in Therapy . Rosen GM, Otgarr H, Merckelbach H . Trauma . 16 March 2023 . 69–93 . Cambridge University Press . 10.1017/9781009000611.007 . 9781009000611 .

Notes and References

1. Rosquist 2005, p. 94; Neudeck & Wittchen 2012, p. 4.
2. Rosquist 2005, p. 94. For the original see Rosen & Davidson 2003.
3. Tryon 2014, p 31.
4. Neudeck & Wittchen 2012, p. 4.
5. Tolin 2020.
6. Rosquist 2005, p. 94; Mercer 2019, p. 179; Herbert 2003: "If this example seems unrealistic, consider the case of [EMDR] ..."