"The real purpose of [the] scientific method is to make sure Nature hasn't misled you into thinking you know something that you actually don't."
~Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1974

A parole board meets with a convicted rapist and its members ponder whether to release him. A worker on a crisis intervention line judges whether a caller is suicidal. A physician notes a patient's symptoms and surmises the likelihood of cancer. A school social worker ponders whether a child's overheard threat was a macho joke, a one-time outburst, or a sign of potential violence.

Each of these professionals must decide whether to make judgments subjectively or objectively. Should they follow their intuitions? Or should they rely on the wisdom embedded in formulas, statistical analyses, and computerized predictions?....

Chapter Contents

Intuitive versus Statistical Prediction
Why Clinical Intuition Falters
Therapeutic Intuition
Therapeutic touch
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Light exposure therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy

Links to other websites about clinical intuition:

Paul Meehl
Mark Snyder
Is Mental Health Treatment a Fraud? Article about research by Robyn Dawes
Robyn Dawes' House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth
Quackwatch. A guide to medical fraud
The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, "Objective investigations of controversial and unorthodox claims in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and social work."
Centre for Evidence Based Mental Health

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