How Sissoo rates the evidence

How we decide what the research says about each type of session, which sources we use and how we keep it up to date.

Our five ratings

• Good evidence it helps: several careful studies agree, or national guidelines recommend it.
• Some evidence it may help: a few careful studies found a benefit, and more are needed.
• Limited evidence: studies are small, early or mixed.
• No good evidence yet: no reliable studies yet. This does not mean it does not help; it has not been tested well.
• Good evidence it does not help: careful studies found little or no benefit.

We rate each type of session for each need, for example yoga for back pain, not yoga in general.

Where the evidence comes from

We use public health bodies and independent reviews: the NHS and NICE in the UK, the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), the World Health Organization and Cochrane. As we add other languages, we also use national bodies, such as gesundheitsinformation.de in Germany, Santé.fr and INSERM in France, and the Spanish health ministry’s CoNprueba reports.

We search research databases such as PubMed to find new studies, but we link to the reviewed summary or guideline, not to single studies. Every rating links to its source.

How we keep it up to date

Research changes. We check regularly for new reviews and guidelines and review every page at least every 6 months. We change a rating only when the evidence changes, and each page shows the date it was last checked.

What we never do

We never promise results or say a session cures or treats an illness. Sessions on Sissoo complement medical care and never replace it. Please don’t stop or change any treatment without talking to your doctor.

How we make money

Sissoo is a booking platform. We earn a commission when you book a session. This never changes the ratings, and practitioners can’t change them.

All research pages

By type of session

• 1:1 spiritual guidance: what the research says
• 5Rhythms: what the research says
• Abdominal therapy: what the research says
• Acupuncture: what the research says
• Aromatherapy: what the research says
• Art and colour therapy: what the research says
• Ayurveda: what the research says
• Bio-Energetic Healing: what the research says
• Biofeedback: what the research says
• Biofield Tuning: what the research says
• CBT for anxiety: what the research says
• CBT for depression and low mood: what the research says
• CBT: what the research says
• Chiropractic: what the research says
• Counselling: what the research says
• Craniosacral therapy: what the research says
• Crystal therapy: what the research says
• Dance movement therapy: what the research says
• DBT: what the research says
• Deep tissue massage: what the research says
• Ecstatic dance: what the research says
• EFT tapping: what the research says
• EMDR for trauma and PTSD: what the research says
• EMDR: what the research says
• Empowered Feminine sessions: what the research says
• Existential therapy: what the research says
• Feldenkrais: what the research says
• Flower essence therapy: what the research says
• Focused meditation: what the research says
• Frequency Specific Microcurrent: what the research says
• Gestalt therapy: what the research says
• Hatha yoga: what the research says
• Herbal medicine: what the research says
• Hypnotherapy: what the research says
• Indian head massage: what the research says
• Integrative counselling: what the research says
• Internal Family Systems: what the research says
• Interpersonal therapy: what the research says
• Iyengar yoga: what the research says
• Jivamukti yoga: what the research says
• Kinesiology: what the research says
• Life coaching: what the research says
• Light therapy: what the research says
• Lomi Lomi massage: what the research says
• Loving-kindness meditation: what the research says
• Lymphatic drainage massage: what the research says
• Mantra meditation: what the research says
• Massage: what the research says
• Meditation and mindfulness for stress and anxiety: what the research says
• Menopause support sessions: what the research says
• Mindfulness: what the research says
• Movement meditation: what the research says
• Neurobiology sessions: what the research says
• NLP: what the research says
• Nutritional therapy: what the research says
• Osteopathy: what the research says
• Past life regression: what the research says
• PEMF: what the research says
• Person-centred counselling: what the research says
• Pilates: what the research says
• Pregnancy and motherhood support: what the research says
• Pregnancy yoga: what the research says
• Psychotherapy: what the research says
• Qigong: what the research says
• Quantum-Touch: what the research says
• Reconnective Healing: what the research says
• Reflexology: what the research says
• Reiki: what the research says
• Relaxation: what the research says
• Restorative yoga: what the research says
• Rolfing: what the research says
• Shiatsu: what the research says
• Solution-focused therapy: what the research says
• Somatic movement: what the research says
• Sound therapy: what the research says
• Spiritual meditation: what the research says
• Sports massage: what the research says
• Systemic family therapy: what the research says
• Tai chi: what the research says
• Thai massage: what the research says
• Theta Healing: what the research says
• Thought Field Therapy (TFT): what the research says
• Traditional Chinese medicine: what the research says
• Transactional Analysis: what the research says
• Transcendental Meditation: what the research says
• Tui Na and acupressure: what the research says
• Vinyasa yoga: what the research says
• Visualisation: what the research says
• Womb medicine: what the research says
• Women’s circles: what the research says
• Women’s embodiment sessions: what the research says
• Yin yoga: what the research says
• Yoga for stress, anxiety and back pain: what the research says
• Yoga therapy: what the research says

By need

• Sleep better
• Handle stress better
• Feel calmer
• A relaxed body
• Menopause wellbeing
• Grief and loss
• Lift your mood

Tell us

If something looks out of date or wrong, message our team.