Complementary and Alternative Therapies: An Evidence-Based Framework

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has experienced a dramatic growth in use and acceptability over the last 20 years. CAM is a diverse collection of medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered a component of conventional medicine. CAM traditionally has been practiced by informally educated healers, dietitians, yoga instructors, and others not trained in medicine. Once considered a fringe aspect of medical practice, CAM is now taught or introduced to medical students at nearly every major medical school in the U.S. CAM is also widely used to address school and developmental issues. Although school and developmental issues have long been targets of CAM, the evidence of effectiveness of CAM is mixed at best. School psychologists may be dismissive of CAM therapies due to the lack of quality empirical support. However, many parents and teachers strongly believe in such methods. There are few cases where CAM therapies have repeatedly shown significant positive effects. Most often, there are no studies or no studies of sufficient quality to support CAM therapies. School psychologists can best serve parents and teachers considering CAM therapies by helping to develop a program evaluation framework. Although not the same as a placebo-controlled double blind study, a single-participant empirical approach to intervention effectiveness presents a scientific and empirical approach to the use of CAM therapies. (Contains 4 online resources.)