to think you can't certify woo

[RickRoll]

This is for a job as a

"Part-time Complementary Therapist Reiki/Spiritual Healer"

in an Epping NHS hospital

www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/26ed44d3913ede389bedce1e4777458a/?vac_ref=913927029

"For this role you will need a Reiki Master Usui System qualification."

WTF?

I'm a MH professional with years of experience and am trained in CBT/DBT as well as counselling for e.g abuse, bereavement.

I get great results and amazing feedback from service users. Yes, I'm knowledgeable and skilled but I am under no illusion that my great results are often due to the fact that when people come to see me....

They get my undivided attention. I listen. I understand. I care. Coming to see me gives them something to get up and out of the house for, something to engage with. Support. Encouragement. Someone saying 'well done' or ' don't be too hard on yourself' or even just someone to acknowledge that that person has been through a shit time and it's ok to be struggling.

And I'm not just talking about MH problems that a lot of society think may be exaggerated or indulged (like anxiety or depression) but the whole premise of early intervention in people with psychosis isn't just based on medication or supervision - it's based on the relationship between the service user and the worker (I worked in one of the pilot schemes that improved outcomes so much, it was seen as a priority MH service and rolled out nationwide).

So it's not about whether alternative therapies work in themselves (they don't IMO), it's that for the service user - engaging in something they think might help often does. Because the placebo effect is powerful. But the positive outcomes aren't usually attributable to placebo effect - they're a consequence of the interaction between the service user and the 'therapist'.

And if it leads to positive outcomes - as it often does, it saves the NHS money in reduced visits to NHS services, reduced reliance on medications etc.

Of course I don't think the placebo effect is only for thickies. It's a recognised phenomena. What I do think is 'for thickies' is reading a couple of niche research theories without much background knowledge and then unthinkingly accepting it as fact and making inaccurate sweeping accusations like NICE and the BMJ thinking antidepressants are useless.

The placebo effect is entirely all in your head. The entire point of a placebo is that it has no active effect outside the psychological. So yes, you are going down the road of 'it's all in your head'. I have not said anything remotely insulting about people with mental health issues, that's a bit pathetic. I clearly haven't:

Being in hospital and having invasive and horrible treatments are very dehumanising.

The overstrained health service plus the changing nature of nursing means that patients are mostly left on their own and without active 'care' and caring. Patients often stop seeing their bodies as a powerful, reliable part of themselves. Their identities and sense of self is eroded and changed at the very moment people need to be strong and resilient.

In that context, I think that other non-medical 'therapies' are useful. But as others have said, only if it's as well as, not instead of, actual medical treatment.

Reiki shouldn't be given credence in the context of NHS services, no matter who pays for it. It is a load of rubbish, surfs along on the tailcoats of regular massage etc and has no place anywhere alongside conventional treatments for cancer.

Some people might find some crazy Juice Diet helps. Should that be legitimised by advertising it as a job opportunity within the NHS?
Psychics?
Tarot?

Real medicine, real nurses, real physiotherapy equipment are effective. It's not as if the money would have to be thrown out the window if it did not buy a Reiki master, it could be used for something proven to be effective.

Reiki master
My arse