Therapies can make people feel better and/or they can have specific measurable effects on the condition treated. The two effects do much to explain the conventional versus complementary or alternative medicine schism. A problem for conventional practitioners is that complementary/alternative practitioners often claim that their methods have the second type of effect when there is little or no evidence to show it and little or no sensible theory to suggest it possible. Nevertheless it can not be denied that making people feel better is a perfectly valid and necessary aim.  Physiotherapy for children with cerebral palsy is conventional and parents want it. …