There's also a treatment for post-traumatic stress called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Similar to techniques used in other effective treatments for this condition, EMDR therapists ask clients to review the traumatic events repeatedly in their minds until their anxiety dissipates. What makes EMDR unique is that the therapist also moves index and middle fingers rapidly from left to right in front of the client, who is asked to visually track the movement while imagining the scene. But research shows that the eye movements appear to be completely superfluous, as people who are asked to keep their eyes still while recounting the events improve just as much as those who do the eye-wiggling.

Psychotherapy has few safeguards. For a particular medication to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it first must undergo controlled clinical trials in which it is shown to be safe and effective. No such safeguards are necessary for new psychotherapies. Many therapists argue that we just don't know enough at this point about how to treat psychiatric problems to require this high standard for our treatments. Others say they don't need research to tell them that their treatments work after they have witnessed years of "successes" firsthand.

But there are recent examples that should give us pause. A 10-year-old Colorado girl, for instance, was killed in 2000 when her therapists accidentally suffocated her with a blanket while trying to "rebirth" her.

There are many safe and scientifically supported psychotherapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety. Unfortunately, the mental health community has done a poor job of protecting consumers from the charlatans and the well-meaning-but-ill-trained who hang out a shingle.

A recent national survey conducted by Ronald Kessler at Harvard University suggested that more than 65 percent of people with anxiety attacks or severe depression used alternative medicines and "complementary" therapies. The EMDR Institute boasts of training more than 40,000 clinicians in finger-waving techniques.

Consumers have the power to effect change in this system, but they rarely use it. The next time you go to a psychotherapy session, questions will be your most powerful tool to protect yourself. What type of therapy are we doing? Has it been shown to be effective for the types of problems I'm experiencing based on controlled research studies? What are alternative approaches that are effective for my problems? These questions should be as commonplace as asking whether the person holds a license to practice. If your therapist is evasive, defensive or just can't answer you, caveat emptor! Perhaps it's time to shop around for someone who can.

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Brandon A. Gaudiano holds a master's degree in clinical psychology and is a consulting editor for Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice.