1/ I had a role on the first task force on ESTs. This was the report that put the concept of EST on the map. The original intent was to counteract the oversized influence of big pharma. The pharma industry was convincing the world medication is THE scientific treatment for m.h.

2/ problems. People were looking for pills instead of psychotherapy. The original goal was to present scientific evidence for the benefits of psychotherapy as a counterpoint to the messaging from bug pharma. But the whole thing was hijacked. Instead of promoting the benefits

3/ of *psychotherapy,* the task force was hijacked by CBT fanatics to promote exclusively brief, manualized therapy over all other psychotherapy approached. It all turned into PR campaign for manualized therapy & a dismissal of/attack on psychodynamically-informed approaches.

4/ The report had no relation to the papers on which it was supposedly based (I co-authored one). It was a far cry from what we were invited to participate in. Politics and self-interest carried the day, and task force members (including me) came away feeling we'd been hoodwinked