How Many Theories Does It Take to Miss the Point?

December 29, 2025

Jason Shiers, Author & Psychotherapist, Speaker, and Book Author 

Tom O'Connor, Publisher

Author Jason Shiers' recently published book, Infinite Recovery Project: The Intelligence of Addiction - A Trauma-Informed Spiritual Approach to Recovery, Healing, and Lasting Change, offers a unique perspective on addiction and recovery. This comprehensive exploration challenges current industry norms and is the result of years of research and practical experience. The Infinite Recovery Project offers a more authentic, relational, and straightforward approach to healing, making it a valuable resource for both practitioners and clients.

Therapeutic Modalities 

How many talking therapies do we need? The problem might not be the modality –But what do we believe healing requires? 

This question often gets lost in the sea of 500+ modalities. There are now over 500 different types of talking therapies, and every year, new modalities emerge, often as renamed versions of existing ones – rebranded with certifications, acronyms, frameworks, and 'evidence-based' claims.

Some are helpful; mostly, they are well-meaning, but they are based on a fundamental, false, and misunderstood assumption about what it means to be human.

Let's be honest, if talking were enough, we'd be healed by now.

Despite the rise of modalities, the crisis persists. People are still stuck, still relapsing, still labeled, and still learning about healing while never experiencing it. So, what's missing?

Complexity has become the mask for insecurity. When results are poor, we add more steps, more terms, and more layers.

As if healing lives in intellectual mastery or clinical technique, but healing isn't a concept; it's not a method or a protocol.

*Here's another article you might like by Belinda Morey

A Fundamental Shift - A Revolution

It's a fundamental shift in how we meet ourselves: first in embodied awareness, then in presence and safety. 

This shift is not just a change in approach but a revolution in how we understand and practice healing.

And the real risk…In the sea of 500+ modalities… 

• Who's regulating this? 

• Who's measuring outcomes beyond symptom reduction? 

• Who's asking whether the therapist has actually healed themselves? 

These are the questions that need to be asked to drive meaningful change in the industry. Because if the industry is passing pain between people with better vocabularies, we're not in the business of healing—we're in the business of performing it.

So what actually helps? Often it's not the tools – it's the who…

• The person 

• The space created

• The level of safety

And the ability to meet what hurts without needing to fix it. Not just in theory, but in the body, in the now.

So, I'm curious…

Have you ever felt worse after therapy – or more confused after learning another modality?

---

Jason Shiers can be reached at jason4656@gmail.com. If you want to learn more about the Infinite Recovery Project (IRP), please visit  http://www.infiniterecoveryproject.com/

If you enjoyed this article, 

Please forward this to a friend or colleague who might benefit from it!