Lighten up PCSMcGee.
I was not referring to EMDR. EMDR is even less researched the the light therapy you refer to. SYNTONIC PHOTOTHERAPY has been around for decades but has had a recent resurgence. Dr Tessler's therapy sure sounds like SYNTONIC PHOTOTHERAPY. No it is not EMDR.
I did not mention the reason I compared craniosacral therapy to Knagan water as both placebo initially because to get the max effect from a placebo, the patient needs to not know it is a placebo. Read the scientific studies. There is no difference. The researchers state that the placebo value validates the use of the therapy as long as the cost is acceptable.
Your own comments make my case. Unless you have had any of the reliable diagnostic tests, your recover is just anecdotal. If SYNTONIC PHOTOTHERAPY worked for you and you could afford it, good. If not, you wasted a bunch of money. Head injury survivors end up with limited resources due to being denied by so many doctors. We need to be careful about therapy expenses.
You say you tried many physical therapy modalities and got no relief. That is understandable and common. Most physical therapist are "jacks of all trades and masters of none." I have had three neuro-psych exams. Even thought the scores of the tests say I have an organic brain injury, all three try to say I have a psychological causation to my dysfunctions. They are so sure of their diagnosis that they hide the scores of the tests that contradict their diagnosis. One even reverses the scoring scale to justify his position.
EMDR is a dangerous concept in my mind. It appears that it was developed by someone who saw some value in SYNTONIC PHOTOTHERAPY but wanted to add his own psychotherapy (talk) to the mix. The vagarities of talk therapy itself can be dangerous.
Some people are very responsive to placebo. Those same people are often more reactive to other symptoms. Not that their reactions are "thought up." But rather that their whole body system reacts differently than the others. It is the same with hypnotherapy. It works wonders for many and is useless for others. It does not make either group better or worse than the other. They are just different.
I attended a brain injury support group for the first time last night. The caregivers' small group leader (trained professional) emphasized the need for the injured party and his caregivers to accept the injuries as real and react as if they are permanent. Then as they learn to change behaviors to accommodate their symptoms and dysfunctions, they lower the stress in their lives and healing happens faster. If they no longer need to use the work-arounds and accommodations, great. In not, they have learned skills that will benefit them for years to come.
Demanding a quick-fix is unreasonable.

Your hypothetical situation with cranio-sacral therapy is common in many areas of therapy. The cranio-sacral therapy may do something physiological or not. It also may provide a compassionate care system that over time allows the patient to heal. Take arthroscopic knee surgery. I have had it three times. Only one time did they find a tear. The prior two times they did not find the tear but my knee was much better after. The orthopedist explained it this way. The prior surgeries required that I rest my knee for a few weeks because it just would not function at full strength until it recovered from the trauma from the surgery. During this time, the inflammation response of my body and the rest the knee received allowed the body to focus healing a resting knee. Did the surgery accomplish nothing? Clinically no. In reality, yes. The knee was better until it got overworked years later.
The simple fact that the patient usually knows that the therapy (cranio-sacral or Kangan water or ???) will take time to effect healing causes the patient to rest and wait for healing. Is this a placebo effect or is it an actual healing from the resting? We do not know. The valid point is that things got better.
The same goes for accepting your symptoms and learning to accommodate them. As you relax and rest, healing has a better chance.

Are you understanding my point? Brain injury does not have any quick fixes nor 100% fixes. Get used to it. When you do, you will feel better.

Oh, and I disagree with your claim that EMDR is the most widely accepted form of effective PTSD therapy. It is accepted by those who know how to make money using it. It was not commonly used in the VA system until after 2004. It has only been promoted by the EMDR HAP association. It is still being researched by the VA. Some claim it is no better than CBT. Oddly enough, it often included CBT, so how would you tell if the EMDR addon is working. It got a push when it finally got accepted by the psychiatric association. That usually means they got it a CPT code so they can get paid by insurance companies, not much else.

You ask about how they measure success rates for cranio-sacral or Kangan therapy. Many of these therapies are done long before the more expensive diagnostic tests. Qeeg and neuro-psych cost $2,000 and up. And all they do is confirm a problem. Many choose to try a therapy first. If it works, great. If not, you try the next most affordable therapy. This is how modern MEDICINE works. Notice, many of todays ailments are first treated with a drug. It is usually just a "try this" concept. It is usually not a "Take this, it will solve the problem." I like how they call medicine a practice. They keep trying until they get it right.. or the patient goes away.

So, what diagnostic test have you had? You can be specific if you want.Since I have had to spend a small fortune of my own hard earned money in my search for answers, I probably know what they are.