When I first realized the power of energy medicine, I was working in a psychology department and tried to persuade a professor that the Emotional Freedom Technique worked. So, he let me work with him on his neck pain and it went from a pain level of 4/10 to 0/10 in minutes. But was he convinced? I don’t think so. What I do know was that it made him very uneasy and he began to distance himself from me.
I’ve had a couple of other experiences where I’ve either helped experts in mental health or Western medicine heal from injuries and even though we’d been close for months, they stopped returning my calls.
Why? They claimed (falsely) that there was no science in energy medicine.
Science of Energy Medicine: What causes people to be Skeptics?
Research shows that being an expert can cause you to be closed to alternatives. People that are skeptics of Energy Medicine, tend to be the most educated in their fields.
So should you try to convince an expert that Energy Medicine works? Should you refute their claims that there is no science of energy medicine? I would tread carefully, especially if you value the relationships. However, I do think it is important to let them know that being an expert can cause them to be closed to alternatives (show them this report), and that the more one is willing to open their mind to alternatives, the more possibilities become available. You can tell them when they are ready, you will send them more information.
“There are over 400 identified forms of psychotherapy, many of which have little or no research to validate them. Energy psychology is both evidence-based and in the top 10% in terms of published research for psychotherapy modalities.” – The Science Behind Energy Psychology
For people who are more curious about the science of energy medicine, here are some points you can make:
1.) Western medicine has made a concerted effort to debunk alternative medicine for decades
As a neuroscientist and neuroepidemiologist with 15 years of research at esteemed institutions, this is my opinion based on my experience as well as other holistic practitioners that I’ve talked to. When my research confirmed evidence that had already been found, getting a paper published was swift and without significant hurdles. But the more it challenged the conventional view of Western Medicine, the more resistance I got (from both colleagues and journal editors) to publish my findings.
A review article I wrote was attacked by a skeptic’s blog (funded by the pharmaceutical industry). When I issued a rebuttal, the only points that he allowed on his site were ones that he chose to argue with. I had made some fantastic points that he couldn’t refute, but he wouldn’t publish them. My mistake was that I had given editorial control to someone who wasn’t interested in considering an alternative view to his own.
I was delighted to see this TEDx talk by a CBS news reporter Sharly Attkisson that completely confirmed my experience. It’s called “Astroturf and manipulation media messages”. You can share it with your friends who want to know more about why there is so much skepticism against alternative medicine.
2.) The premise of most of Western medicine is based on Newtonian physics. Energy medicine is based on Quantum physics
According to quantum physics, everything is energy. One reason why Western experts have such a hard time believing in Quantum mechanics is because of the way they were taught. If you’d like to get a better sense of the differences between Newtonian and Quantum physics, check out this well-written article.
3.) There are hundreds of scientific papers showing the science of energy medicine
Energy medicine is NOT a big money-making business. There is not the kind of money available for alternative medicine research or preventative medicine that is available for pharmaceutical drugs. That being said, as of 2013, there were at least 615 peer-reviewed studies in Energy Medicine.
Here is a summary, as of 2019, of what has been published in the field of Energy Psychology (a subset of energy medicine):
• There are over 200 studies published in Energy Psychology
• 65 of them are randomized control trials
• 50 clinical outcome studies
• Only one study failed to demonstrate its effectiveness
In the Science Behind Energy Psychology Quick Facts, published in 2019, they stated that “There are over 400 identified forms of psychotherapy, many of which have little or no research to validate them. Energy psychology is both evidence-based and in the top 10% in terms of published research for psychotherapy modalities.”
Luckily, there is a growing recognition and research that alternative medicine can improve outcomes for patients, and even save costs. The functional medicine community is holding summits on the benefits of energy medicine, and recognition of the potential of energy medicine has been steadily growing, even in academia! We might not be able to change minds instantly, but the more evidence they see, the harder it will be to refute its benefits.
Well written, Dr T.!