research study: you can eliminate the fear of speaking

Power_Bog

Member
I'm curious, how much of this study did you personally write and what parts were your co-authors responsible for?
 

charlieHungerford

Well-known member
Why don't you give us a brief sample of a key part to this to demonstrate what you are trying to do? i.e. what do you believe is the key to overcoming this fear?

I mean how on earth can you expect people to pay $200 just on the chance that this might be as good as you make it sound? If you are trying to sell something then you have to demonstrate the product.
 

Morty

Member
demo

I'm not sure what else you want? There are video testimonials from a number of people. There is a video testimonial from an independent psychologist at the U of Arizona discussing the study. There is an article in a professional journal that describes exactly how the process works and how the results were produced.

If you don't believe it, that's fine with me. If you don't trust me, that's fine also.

We work with almost 40 people a week on the phone from all over the world. We've worked with over 12,000 during the past 22 years.

It's available for people who are interested. I have no interest in trying to convince people. It works. We provide the results our clients want.
 

Morty

Member
study authors

I wrote the description of the processes. The rest was an analysis of the data which the other two authors wrote. All the questionnaires were sent to them. They put the data in a compouter. Then they wrote the analysis.
 

powerwithin

Member
I would suggest TRYING the process before criticizing, over-analyzing and lambasting someone who can truly help you! You have nothing to lose (apart from your fear) and so much to gain. But then, you have to want to be helped.

I had a fear of public speaking that was bringing me down. Like yourselves, I was cynical. When you live with something all your life, it is inconceivable that anything can help you. I listened to tapes, tried hypnosis and NLP, positive thinking, the works. I felt I was stuck with this.

What did getting over this fear mean to me? EVERYTHING. So I did not worry about the money. I mean, what is getting over your anxiety WORTH to you? To me, it transcended money.

People like Morty really deserve every penny they make and then some. They make profound changes in this world. There's nothing insincere in this work and it deserves to be rewarded. $797 for something that will change your life for good or paying that amount on silly "remedies" (pills, countless books, fads) that will not get you any results? For me, it's a no-brainer.

This process was a marvel for me. I'm human, so I'm not perfect, but it really helped me get over my fear of public speaking. It is powerful, profound and spiritually uplifting. I will continue to use the process to iron out the little kinks in my personality - there's no shame in wanting to be the best you can be, after all. I will also buy the DVD set because I really want to help other people.

Give this a try. You will be amazed. But again, you have to want to be helped and your attitude has to be right. After all, if you resist help, you will never get it!
 

frizboy

Well-known member
Well, Morty does point out that the study he's citing here was published in a peer-reviewed journal. True. Now, that does not mean you should automatically accept it as any great measure of his product's effectiveness. There are a number of reasons for this.

1.) Most strikingly... the participants recruited were members of public speaking clubs. Does that make the sample unrepresentative of the population at large? Of course! Does it make the sample unrepresentative of even a subset of the population that would be seeking public speaking help? Even still, yes. These people are actively attending seminars and workshops to improve public speaking and leadership skills. One explanation for the improvements that were observed is that they were highly suggestible, and, notably, at least more suggestible than the general population. One would expect, for instance, that those who have been a member of these clubs the longest continued to pay their dues because they felt that membership continued to benefit them. Those who have been members for longer periods, one would tend to think, were more responsive to similar interventions. Conspicuously, the study does not report any information about the number of years participants had been members of toastmasters clubs.

2.) Lefkoe's name is on the paper. This by itself would not be so bad, but he's actually trying to market his method now. Does anyone else sense that he might have something to gain here? It should therefore be noted that even in peer-reviewed journals, there have been famous instances of data falsification. Before anyone is really, imo, warranted in purchasing sessions with Lefkoe and colleagues, at least if Lefkoe's supposed heaps of anecdotal evidence would not be enough for you, additional studies with more varied samples and with unaffiliated authors really need to be conducted.

3.) The data rely almost exclusively on self-report. This method of collecting data has been questioned extensively lately. Especially with regard to public speaking anxiety, we have good reasons to believe that recording physiological activity or patterns of regional blood flow in the brain would be a preferable method, avoiding much of the demand characteristics implicit in self-report data.

4.) The control condition employed was not comparable to the experimental condition. Ideally, in your treatment condition, you want to introduce as little opportunity for confounds as possible. What the investigators could have done is have participants in the control condition perform similar tasks, perhaps focusing on maladaptive thoughts much in the way CBT does. A second treatment condition, like CBT, would be even better.

5.) There is no indication on the paper where the funding, if any, for this research came from. That just strikes me as somewhat fishy. That information is hardly ever missing in any article I've seen from a psychological journal. Of course, if it was unfunded, that's important information to have as well.

I'm glad for Morty though that he got published. Congrats! I'm an undergrad and I'm looking to publish an article in Cognition & Emotion right now. Wish me luck.
 

Power_Bog

Member
Most prominently the study's title claimed that the fear of public speaking was "permanently" eliminated, but this was not even what was studied -- it only measured participants once shortly afterward. The title is "An Intervention that Permanently Eliminates the Fear of Public Speaking." Slight omission, no?

I find it upsetting that something like this paper was able to pass any kind of peer review.

Here are some quotes I cringed at:

Joseph LeDoux (1996), a professor at the Center for Neural Science at New York University, points out ‘Extinction [of a conditioned stimulus] appears to involve the cortical [our thinking brain] regulation over the amygdala [the emotional brain]...’. This is precisely what the Lefkoe Stimulus Process does.

Really, precisely? Isn't this a rather odd citation of a mass market science book to make a neurological claim with no other evidence? Shouldn't you do MRI scans, that sort of thing to claim neurological findings? This is one of only 13 or so citations in the entire paper, and only a single one of them appears to be from a peer-reviewed journal (only ones I'm not sure about are two articles Lefkoe wrote for California Therapist, I don't know what that is but I suspect it's a magazine).

The facilitator for all subjects in the study was Morty Lefkoe, who has over 20 years of experience in using TLM to assist clients to get rid of a wide variety of emotional and behavioral conditions, including the fear of speaking in public. The treatment consists of one-hour sessions and is delivered according to structured treatment protocols developed by Mr. Lefkoe.

I think Lefkoe conducted and mostly wrote the study himself and then hired a grad student and her advisor to do the statistical analysis.

An increasing number of case studies and anecdotal reports provide evidence that TLM has been effective in resolving a wide variety of serious psychological issues, including anxiety, drug and alcohol addition, ADD, bulimia, phobias, the inability to leave abusive relationships, anger, hostility and guilt. It also is successful with everyday issues such as worrying about what people think of you, workaholism, the feeling that nothing one does is ever good enough, procrastination and the
inability to express feelings.

Wow, is there anything Lefkoe can't do? Of course, no citations on any of this.

Not revealing the funding for this study is not reputable behavior. I asked him directly and he avoided answering, though he was shown as active on the sidebar for a long time afterwards. Do publishers oblige you to disclose that information? Someone should track down the email address of one of the other authors and ask them and/or the editor of this journal.

powerwithin, since you're probably Morty why don't you just tell us? I mean what are the odds that a Lefkoe proponent (total google matches for "the lefkoe method" = 78, for "cognitive therapy" = 1.004 million) would stumble across this forum, even with the same writing style and promises of easy answers and quick fixes for a price?
 

powerwithin

Member
Power_Bog, I'm not Morty! If you want to message me personally, I'll give you FULL details of how the process transformed me. No BS here and I have nothing to gain - it would just be nice to see everyone benefit from this.

You can sit here and be cynical all you want. You can ask these questions, when truthfully the answers won't resolve anything for you. It's entirely your choice, of course.

Again, it's down to the individual, but I don't care how many STUDIES have been done on a process, who funded it and why it was funded. Why are you even concerned about this?

If it works for me, that's all that matters. I tried a number of processes with glowing praise and none of them truly worked for me. Hypnosis, for example, has years of research and STATISTICAL evidence. It works for some people, but didn't do anything major for me. Does that make it a bad process? No. Different things will work for different people and for different reasons.

Some people have the power to elicit change. Some processes JUST WORK. Does it really matter how, why and how many scientists have reviewed it? TLM might not work for you, but I would be confident it would. $800 to get over your issue permanently was an amazing deal for me - a no-brainer. Others might have different expectations!

I only came on here to defend the process, because I'm a real person and it REALLY works! There are loads of testiomonials on the site and I didn't even leave one. All you can do is give the process a try. For me, a money-back guarantee suggests the practitioner's confidence in the process. But then, that's your choice.
 

frizboy

Well-known member
You don't care about studies? Oh. In that case, I want to recommend to you now The Frizboy Method. No studies have been published on it. But I can give you a partial idea of how it works by writing up a few vague passages about the process. When you read them, you'll think I'm talking about CBT. But no. The frizboy method is slightly different. Slightly different enough to warrant you to spend $1000 for sessions, in fact. So why don't you go ahead and start writing me that check. You don't care about studies anyway. Who cares if it works, right? What do you have to lose?
 

powerwithin

Member
frizboy said:
You don't care about studies? Oh. In that case, I want to recommend to you now The Frizboy Method. No studies have been published on it. But I can give you a partial idea of how it works by writing up a few vague passages about the process. When you read them, you'll think I'm talking about CBT. But no. The frizboy method is slightly different. Slightly different enough to warrant you to spend $1000 for sessions, in fact. So why don't you go ahead and start writing me that check. You don't care about studies anyway. Who cares if it works, right? What do you have to lose?

Your sarcastic, facetious answer underlines that you DID NOT READ my post. I have said that IT WORKED for me and thousands of others, therefore why should I care about studies? Is that clear enough for you? Perhaps you should read what I actually wrote. If you have nothing intelligent to contribute, though, just leave it :)
 

frizboy

Well-known member
I read it and I understood what you wrote. I'd just like to extend the invitation for you to try the Frizboy Method now. It's been known solve just about any problem. Why, just today it figured out the meaning of life! Shit! Now surely you have something we can work on. Maybe you're too gullible, too loose with your money perhaps. Well the Frizboy method can solve that too!

The price is just 1000 bones. Straight up! Come on, what do you have to lose? I have all the anecdotal evidence you could ever want. Even my dog saw results!

Jesus. There are reliable products and not so reliable ones. There are fishy studies and there are good ones. There are paid testimonials or non-reimbursed testimonials from borderline incompetents and there are scientific studies. I don't know. I just thought I'd throw all this into high relief for you, Morty, I mean powerwithin.

EDIT: Sorry if that sounds harrassing. If the Lefkoe method worked for you, that's wonderful. As with anything, though, I think consumers like to feel justified in choosing a product. Consider these posts your "consumer reports" on the Lefkoe Method. If you are Morty, and you're concerned about sales, I would just honestly consider cutting your losses if things aren't going so good. Research psychology can still make you some money, and you can make it in totally legitimate ways. So cheers.
 

powerwithin

Member
Again, feel free to PM me if you want any proof of my identity. I don't see why it's so inconceivable to you that processes work. Could it be that you try nothing and prefer to pick holes in things? That must be horrible for you.

I would also suggest you drop the sarcasm - it's not particularly clever or endearing. Trust me, sarcasm or otherwise, there's nothing you can offer me! In fact, your resistant attitude would make most things tough for you. Does it make things better for you to criticize things without trying them?

In actual fact, I came here to offer you a little insight. I guess that's fighting a losing battle, though. I am no zealot for any process or organisation. I just don't particularly like to see a guy get attacked when all he did was advertise a service that *does* work. If everyone used this process, the forum would probably dwindle!

As for trying to justify my using this process, that's very presumptious of you. I have tried so many processes and can tell you the ones that didn't work for me. And trust me, I wouldn't spend close to $1000 if it didn't work - after all, there was a guarantee!
 

frizboy

Well-known member
Well, you see, if a program happens to be free, which, for example, CBT happens to be at my university, and there are many, many more scientific studies elucidating its effectiveness, and even much, much more anecdotal evidence singing its praises... compared to a very expensive, relatively untested program, backed mostly by anecdotal evidence, I would pick the former, money back guarantee or not. Reason being: some people like having 800 something dollars in their account, and would rather not gamble it. Sure, you can get your money back, but it's going to take some time. After all, you have to commit to the sessions. You then have to be in a situation to really test out whether the program works or not. So that's 800 dollars of your money that's going to be tied up for a while.

Well, maybe you make a little more money than I do and that's fine for you. I can see how the demographics play into it obviously. But I think those demographics are not going to show up so much in these forums. Most of us, I would venture, are in college, or even high school, with some older (but wiser) folks here and there. Even still, that same pile of cash could go toward even better, more validated programs. Maybe even ones with, yes, money back guarantees. If, however, you're that rare individual who is searching for a miracle cure, then by all means, make a stop at Lefkoe. There is a chance it will work for you, and you will no longer need to continue your search. That seems to be powerwithin's story, in a nutshell.

I'm not convinced of the product's efficacy. I think the study Morty cited was flimsy, and should therefore be looked upon with caution. I also think anecdotal evidence doesn't count for much, especially when I can't be sure of the affiliation or reimbursement status of some of the testifiers. And yes, I am poking holes through this product. That's the hallmark of a good consumer. When people buy products too hastily, they often regret it. No one's even touched the many other programs out there. There, of course, has been no direct comparison of them with the Lefkoe method, so we really don't know how it stacks up. In my opinion, that really doesn't give anyone any warrant to purchase the product, unless, again, you're the rare individual who's "tried everything" and is willing to take a gamble.

So, in summary, buyer beware. You have your consumer reports. Go out and be informed.
 

powerwithin

Member
Good post. I respect that. I am actually a student myself and certainly not well-off. My attitude is, though, that some things are worth gambling - the chance of overcoming phobias using a process with a money-back guarantee was a worthwhile gamble. In fact, I reasoned it wasn't a gamble at all. You pay by credit card, a company offers a guarantee. If a company does not honour that, then you contact the Credit Card company. No gamble there.

I have the mindset that, just because it isn't known or widely studied, it does not diminish something's effectiveness. Some people would call that gullible, I guess, but it has been very fruitful for me. In fact, most of the most popular forms of treatment are over-hyped and over-publicized. That owes a lot to Ad dollars than true effectiveness.

I also find people like Tony Robbins to be very skilled in what they do, but he has his detractors too (mostly due to the fact that he's VERY commercial). In fact, every process has its fans and detractors. I fall into neither camp. If it doesn't work for me, I just move on. If it does, I'll let other people know and try to help them. I don't think people have to be loyal to one band of self-help when there are so many things which can work in different contexts.

In all honesty, I don't think there's one catch-all process which will work for everyone. However, TLM was *very* effective for me and I could see it working for loads more people. I am not claiming to be perfect but it rid me of a very limiting public speaking phobia. That AMAZED me.

I don't think you're offering a consumer report as such. You're being cautious, which is not entirely a bad thing. However, there's no harm in reading these testimonials and TRYING the process. That said, there isn't a single process which will work if the "patient" does not want it to. I have nothing to gain here at all. I just highly recommend this, but you're the consumer, and no-one has to do anything they don't want to do.
 

StainedGlass

New member
Interesting discussion, sort of, lol, makes me feel kind of like I walked into an Amway meeting :roll:

I had to comment on regarding Tony Robbins though. After years of feeling cursed by my agoraphobia (I'll leave my home once a month, that's it) and losing everything because of it, I have finally gotten the balls up to face it and work it through....thanks to my brand new therapist, my Tony Robbins audiobooks, and my digital camera.

It's scary as hell, but I'm determined to start making my "baby steps" every day. To help me be able to see that I AM actually making progress, I'm going to take a pic along the way and document it in a blog I just started. It's all a part of that making a "public commitment" of action thing.

Some days it may mean only a pic of the door of the apartment across the hall, or a view down the hall, but I'm going to force myself a lil farther every day....to me every step will be cause for celebration :p

So yeah, heyy, don't be knocking my T-boy!! hehehe :D
 

frizboy

Well-known member
Yeah, I don't know much about your "T-boy" (lol) other than that he has very large hands. I would need some numbers before I could actually say anything about his tapes though. What works for one person may not work for another person, and statistically speaking, the odds may be stacked against the consumer. So yea, I would just need to know more.
 

StainedGlass

New member
lmao, I thought you were going to mention his teeth!

I'd seen his infomercials before and found him intriguing and charismatic, but never went so far as to order anything. After a session with my new therapist I was discussing with a friend what his methods were and our treatment plans. She said that he sounded like Tony Robbins and she dug out some books and audio books for me to check out. I am loving them! Now, I just have to keep making my baby steps and keep taking action.
 
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