ARDMORE, Pa., April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — On Dec 11, 2013 the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) sponsored a change.org petition that has been signed by over 8,100 people. The petition charges that Wikipedia's information about holistic approaches to healing such as Emotional Freedom Techniques is biased, misleading, out-of-date or wrong, preventing the public from getting accurate information.
Furthermore, ACEP believes the editors responsible for these pages engage in censorship. They refuse to allow updates to these pages to include positive findings in publications from reputable organizations.
"They block every effort to update the pages with peer-reviewed research published in professional journals. They violate their own editorial rules," said Dr. Robert Schwarz, ACEP's executive director.
Wikipedia's founder attempted to censor energy psychology, energy medicine, acupuncture and the entire alternative healthcare community in one broad stroke when he responded to the ACEP sponsored petition on change.org by referring to its 8,100 supporters as "lunatic charlatans", stating that Wikipedia would cover work in respectable journals. Apparently he is oblivious to the fact that there have been over 50 energy psychology research studies, many of them published and reviewed by respected scientific journals such as the Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, Review of General Psychology, and Traumatology. (for references see http://www.energypsych.org/research).
"The American Psychological Association does not think people who practice energy psychology are 'lunatic charlatans.' Neither do the Association of Social Work Boards and many other licensing boards in the mental health professions. They approve ACEP to provide continuing education to their professional members for the study of energy psychology," said Debby Vajda, MSW the current president of ACEP.
"Wikipedia portrays itself as a democratic institution edited by all. But the pages in question are actually controlled by a tiny cabal of close-minded editors dedicated to their own point of view – not the neutral viewpoint advocated by Wikipedia," said Dr. Schwarz.
"The public has no way to see that Wikipedia editors cheat by using a double standard. They state that they will only include research on energy psychology or other alternative healthcare practices that come from a systematic review in a third-party professional source. But they refuse to publish the reviews that meet these criteria if the findings support the efficacy of energy psychology, acupuncture or other complementary/alternative healthcare interventions. These same editors cherry pick articles from any source they choose to support their bias against alternative healthcare. The articles do not meet Wikipedia's publication standards," Schwarz said.
"ACEP is not asking Wikipedia to take a pro energy psychology position," said Vajda. "We simply want them to follow their own guidelines and accurately present both sides of the story."
Schwarz adds, "In lieu of that, we want the public to become aware that when it comes to information about complementary and alternative healthcare (such as EFT), Wikipedia should not be considered a trustworthy source for unbiased information." Read ACEP's full position.
The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) has a global membership of over 1,200 licensed mental health professionals and allied health practitioners. ACEP works on behalf of its members to establish the credibility and efficacy of energy psychology methods through its programs of education, certification, ethics, humanitarian aid and research. Founded in 1999, ACEP is a nonprofit organization.