Ian Robertson, head of the psychology department at Trinity College, Dublin says the Human Givens theories on sleep and dreaming have not been scientifically validated.
"I haven't been able to find any scientific validation of the theories that underlie the Human Givens approach. Science is based on data published in reputable international peer-reviewed scientific journals and until that is done, even the most creative and interesting ideas are not scientifically validated.
"Cognitive therapy, for instance, only became widely publicised and used around the world after the scientific trials were done. There are thousands of therapies being used but only a few of them have proven themselves through science. The placebo effect is incredible and you'll always get some people saying that a certain therapy is fantastic but until a therapy has submitted itself to the international scientific process, it remains just another one of thousands of unproven ones."
Clinical psychologist Tony Bates adds: "Most of us are building on the achievements and insights of therapies which have gone before and I am suspicious of the motivation behind the Human Givens approach in that it seems to be highly arrogant and contemptuous of other therapies.
"A lot of behaviour is repeatedly acted out without the person's understanding and most therapy is a collaborative approach which aims to identify key difficulties and goals which are important to the client and find ways in which they can achieve them.
"It's true that most people don't need a lot of therapy; they need someone who will pay attention and listen in a respectful way. A small minority of people need to work deeply on the unconscious roots of their difficulties. One size doesn't fit all and Human Givens may have one piece of the truth but it seems to lack humility and a sense of its own limitations."