At 07:30 PM 10/2/01 -0400, Rafal Smigrodzki, MD-PhD wrote:
>### But the prayed-for and their doctors
>reportedly didn't know somebody was praying for them. How can that be
>explained by placebo?
The moment you open the psi/paranormal jar, all kinds of hopeful
monsters
fly out. Forget God as an explanation for the moment (it's rather
disgusting, isn't it, to imagine that the creator of the universe
reaches
down and modifies natural processes for a few while allowing other
innocents to suffer). The default assumption seems to be that *the
intention to heal* somehow directly modifies the state description of
the
foetus or the mother. But that sounds like a rather more complicated and
improbable process than activating whatever pre-existing physiological
systems a placebo state activates (reduced cortisol, etc). So how could
a
paranormal effect initiate placebo if the Ss don't know they're targets
of
beneficent intentions? Via a paranormal information channel, silly. They
*sense unconsciously* the loving vibes that are bathing them, and
respond
by, you know, relaxing their toes and turning their faces to the
sunlight.
One vector is as unlikely as the other, but I kinda prefer cognitive
paranormality (information tweaks in a chaotic neural system) than
kinetic
ones (non-local but precisely targeted energy transmission).
>it feels to me more like fraud
>or silliness, after all. But I will still be looking forward to more
news
>on this subject.
There's a vast amount of published studies of the alleged efficacy of
prayer, not to mention `therapeutic touch', etc.
If anyone's really interested in trawling for decently conducted
studies,
here's a list of refs, plus a short article on the topic, that a guy
sent
me recently (now you're all sorry you asked; and no, I don't believe in
the
Tooth Fairy and have no inclination to believe in this stuff either):
===================
DISTANT HEALING: EVIDENCE
There is increasing evidence that consciousness can manifest nonlocally,
at
a distance, in ways that are health-relevant.
Jonas WB. The middle way: Realistic randomized controlled trials for
the
evaluation of spiritual healing. The Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine. 2001;7(1):5-7. A positive meta-analysis of
studies
in distant mental influence on animate and inanimate systems, including
distant healing and prayer.
Astin JE, Harkness E, Ernst E. The efficacy of "distant healing": a
systematic review of randomized trials. Annals of Internal
Medicine.2000;132:903-910. Of 23 studies in distant healing, 57% showed
positive results. A cautiously positive systematic review.
Abbot, Neil C, Healing as a therapy for human disease: a systematic
review,
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2000, 6(2), 159-169.
This meta-analysis covers 59 randomized controlled studies, (including
10
dissertation abstracts and 5 pilot studies) of healing in humans up to
the
year 2000. Of 22 fully reported trials, 10 suggested significant
effects.
Braud, William and Schlitz, Marilyn. A methodology for the objective
study
of transpersonal imagery, Journal of Scientific Exploration 1989, 3(1),
43-63. This meta-analysis focuses on electrodermal activity (EDA), a
measure of skin resistance that reflects states of tension. Healers have
been able to selectively lower and raise EDA, aided by feedback from a
meter attached to the healee's skin. In a series of studies by William
Braud and Marilyn Schlitz there were 323 sessions with 4 experimenters,
62
influencers and 271 subjects. Of the 15 studies, 6,(40 per cent)
produced
significant results. Of the 323 sessions, 5 percent were successful (p =
.000023). That is, such results could have occurred by chance only
twenty
three times in a million.
Schlitz, Marilyn/ Braud, William, Distant intentionality and healing:
assessing the evidence, Alternative Therapies 1997, 3(6), 62-73.
Analyzing
19 experiments in which one person sought to influence another person's
electrodermal activity (EDA), they found highly significant effects (p <
.0000007).
NONLOCAL MIND, DISTANT HEALING, AND PRAYER
© copyright by Larry Dossey, M.D.
The idea that the human mind is infinite or nonlocal - that at some
level
it cannot be confined to specific points in space, such as the brain and
body, or in time, such as the present, is ancient.
One of the most universal expressions of nonlocal mind is prayer and
distant healing.
What is prayer? I define it arbitrarily and broadly as "communication
with
the Absolute," and I invite anyone to refine this definition in his or
her
own way. This definition is broad enough to encompass all the major
religions including nontheistic traditions such as Buddhism, in which
prayer is vital but is not directed to a personal god.
Researchers who do experiments in the field of prayer-and-healing often
prefer to use the term "distant intentionality" instead of prayer in
order
to avoid religious connotations and to emphasize the purposeful, mental
aspect of prayer. I shall follow the same practice, although I
recognize
that in Western cultures prayer usually occurs in a religious context.
Why should modern medicine concern itself with prayer and the nonlocal
actions of human consciousness? (Dossey, 2000) Why should we be
concerned
about validating it and integrating these phenomena into healthcare?
One
might argue that such a phenomenon, even if it exists, ought to be set
aside in favor of less challenging questions, such as whether or not
one's
thoughts or prayers can affect one's own body. There are compelling
reasons to set our sights on the more elusive quarry at the outset. If
distant effects of mental intentionality exist, we shall have to deal
with
them sooner or later, whether we like it or not. If we acknowledge them
"up front," they may lend a comprehensiveness to our thinking about the
dynamics of consciousness which otherwise would be sacrificed.
Acknowledging these phenomena early on might spare us at some later date
from having to retrofit our models in order to accommodate them, or
perhaps
having to scuttle our models altogether.
SIX QUESTIONS
In asking whether or not prayer or mental intentions can bring about
changes in distant individuals, let's ask six questions. The evidence
provided following each question is not exhaustive, but is intended to
only
suggest an answer.
(1) Does an effect exist? Is it possible - in principle - for
individuals to influence, at a distance, the physiological function of a
living organism?
(a) Ten subjects tried to inhibit the growth of fungus cultures in
the
laboratory through conscious intent by concentrating on them for fifteen
minutes from a distance of approximately 1.5 yards. The cultures were
then
incubated for several more hours. Of a total of 194 culture dishes, 151
showed retarded growth (Barry, 1968).
(b) In a replication of this study, one group of subjects
demonstrated
the same effect (inhibiting the growth of fungal cultures) in sixteen of
sixteen trials, while stationed from one to fifteen miles away (Tedder
and
Monty, 1981).
(c) Sixty subjects not known to have such abilities were able both
to
impede and stimulate significantly the growth of cultures of bacteria
(Nash, 1982).
(d) Sixty university volunteers were asked to alter the ability of
a
strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli to utilize lactose. This
strain
normally mutates from the inability to metabolize lactose ("lactose
negative") to the ability to use it ("lactose positive") at a known
rate.
The subjects tried to influence nine test tubes of bacterial cultures -
three for increased mutation from lactose negative to lactose positive,
three for decreased mutation of lactose negative to lactose positive,
and
three tubes uninfluenced as controls. The bacteria mutated in the
directions desired by the subjects (Nash, 1984).
(e) Seven subjects - two spiritual healers, one physician who was
interested in and believed in spiritual healing, and four students with
neither experience nor interest in healing - were asked to increase the
growth of yeast in test tubes "by the mental method of his choice." 240
test tubes were used -- 120 for the mental intent, 120 for controls.
The
spiritual healers and the believing physician produced significant
results
(p<0.00014) and the indifferent students produced chance results
(Haraldsson and Thorsteinsson, 1973).
(2) Can such an effect influence intact animals?
In twenty-one experiments conducted over a period of several years,
healers tried to awaken mice more quickly from general anesthesia.
These
experiments were increasingly refined. In one variation, only the image
of
the experimental mouse was projected on a television monitor to the
healer
in a distant room, who tried to intervene mentally via the image.
Nineteen
of the twenty-one studies showed highly significant results: earlier
recovery from anesthesia in the mice to whom positive mental intent was
extended (Watkins and Watkins, 1971; Watkins, Watkins, and Wells, 1973;
Wells and Klein, 1972; Wells and Watkins, 1975).
In a controlled experiment, a noncontact form of "laying on of
hands"
was employed in an attempt to cure mice of transplanted mammary
adenocarcinoma. Three replications were done. Overall, 29 of 33
experimental mice (87.9 percent) were cured of the cancer, compared to
18
of 26 control mice on site (69l2 percent) and 0 of 8 control mice off
site
(0 percent). Later reinjection of tumor cells in treated, cured mice
did
not take (Bengston and Krinsley, 2000).
Researchers injected 60 mice with a tumoral suspension. Half of the
mice were treated with "negative PK" for 20 sessions and half were not,
and
the weight and volume of tumor growth was measured. The treated mice
showed significantly less tumor growth than untreated mice (P <0.01)
(Onetto and Elguin, 1966).
(3) Can such an effect influence biochemical processes in humans?
Blood platelets isolated from healthy human volunteers were treated by
a
healer, who tried to influence the activity of the enzyme monoamine
oxidase
(MAO). MAO activity was measured before and after the mental intent in
both intact and disrupted cells. The overall effect was to increase the
variability of MAO activity relative to untreated control samples
(p<0.001) (Rein, 1985).
(4) Can such an effect influence human tissue?
Thirty-two subjects mentally attempted to prevent the hemolysis of
human red blood cells (RBCs) in test tubes containing a hypotonic saline
solution, as measured by standard spectrophotometric techniques.
Significant differences were found between the "prevent" and control
tubes
(p<1.91x10-5) (Braud, 1988).
(5) Can such an effect influence intact humans ?
Scores of controlled studies have demonstrated the correlation of
positive
mental intent with physiological effects in distant human beings. This
material has been the subject of several reviews (Benor, 1990, 1993;
Dossey, 1993; Solfvin, 1984). Among the studies:
(a) In a double-blind experiment involving 393 persons admitted to a
coronary care unit, intercessory prayer was offered from a distance to
roughly half the subjects. Significantly fewer patients in the prayer
group required intubation/mechanical ventilation (p<0.002) or
antibiotics
(p<0.005), had cardiopulmonary arrests (p<0.02), developed pneumonia
(p<0.03), or required diuretics (p<0.005). Subjects in the prayer group
had a significantly lower "severity score" based on their hospital
course
following admission (p<0.01) (Byrd, 1988).
(b) In a double-blind experiment involving 990 consecutive patients
who
were admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU), patients were randomized
to
receive remote, intercessory prayer or not. The first names of patients
in
the prayer group were given to a team of outside intercessors who prayed
for them daily for 4 weeks. Patients were unaware they were being
prayed
for, and the intercessors did not know and never met the patients. The
medical course from hospital admission to discharge was summarized in a
CCU
course score derived from blinded, retrospective chart review. The
prayed-for group had about a 10 percent advantage compared to the
usual-care group (P = .04) (Harris et al, 1999).
(c) In a double-blind experiment involving 40 patients with
advanced
AIDS, subjects were randomly assigned to a "distant healing" (DH) group
or
to a control group. Both groups were treated with conventional
medications, but the DH group received distant healing for 10 weeks from
healers located throughout the United States. Subjects and healers
never
met. At 6 months, blind chart review found that DH subjects acquired
significantly fewer new AIDS-defining illnesses (P = 0.04), had lower
illness severity (P = 0.03), and required significantly fewer doctor
visits
(P = 0.01), fewer hospitalizations (P 0.04), and fewer days of
hospitalization (P =0.04). DH subjects also showed significantly
improved
mood compared with controls (P = 0.02) (Sicher et al, 1998).
(d) In thirteen experiments, the ability of sixty-two people to
influence the physiology of 271 distant subjects was studied (Braud and
Schlitz, 1983,1988,1989). These studies suggested that (1) the distant
effects of mental imagery compare favorably with the magnitude of
effects
of one's individual thoughts, feelings, and emotions on one's own
physiology; (2) the ability to use positive imagery to achieve distant
effects is apparently widespread in the human population; (3) these
effects
can occur at distances up to twenty meters (greater distances were not
tested); (4) subjects with a greater need to be influenced by positive
mental intent - i.e., those for whom the influence would be beneficial
-- seem more susceptible; (5) the distant effects of intentionality can occur without the recipient's knowledge; (6) those participating in the studies seemed unconcerned that the effect could be used for harm, and no such harmful effects were seen; and (7) the distant effects of mental intentionality are not invariable; subjects appear capable of preventing the effect if it is unwanted.(6) Are these effects limited to human intentionality, or are they widespread in nature?
Claims that humans can achieve distant effects through mental intention is often met with skepticism and derision. These objections might be tempered if it can be shown that this ability is present in nonhuman species as well. Although we do not know what animals think and whether or not they are really intending, there nonetheless is evidence suggesting that "animal consciousness," however it may be defined, is capable of manifesting at a distance in ways not unlike those seen in humans. (a) Researchers tested the possible influence of 80 groups of 15 chicks on a randomly moving robot carrying a lighted candle in an otherwise darkened room. Baby chicks prefer to be in the presence of light; could this preference somehow influence the movement of the candle-carrying robot? In 71% of the cases, the robot spent excessive time in the vicinity of the chicks. In the absence of the chicks, the robot followed random trajectories. The overall results were statistically significant (p<0.01) (Peoc'h, 1988,1995). (b) Researchers collected fifty-four accounts of animals who returned to their owners, sometimes over colossal distances. These instances were unexplainable by sensory cues or by homing instincts; the animals often traveled to places they had never been. These instances suggest some form of extended awareness (Dossey, 1989, p. 112; Rhine and Feather, 1962).
EXPLAINABLE BY SUGGESTION? The distant effects of intentionality suggested herein cannot easily be explained by placebo-type influences such as suggestion and expectation. These studies are generally double-blind in design. Moreover, most of the studies in this field examine the distant effects of intentionality not on other humans but on lower organisms (bacteria, yeast, fungi), cells (red blood cells or other types of tissue), plants (germinating seeds, growing seedlings), rats, and mice. These organisms are assumed to be immune to the effects of suggestion and expectation, and they presumably do not think positively (Dossey, 1993).
NONLOCAL MODELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS These effects cannot be accommodated by conventional models of consciousness, which generally assume that consciousness is either an emergent property of the brain or is identical with it. All such models are local in nature -- i.e., they assume that consciousness and its effects are localized to specific points in space (brains, bodies) and time (the present moment). Distant effects of intentionality are prohibited by such models. If the above phenomena are to be accommodated, our local models of the mind may have to yield to some type of model that is nonlocal (Dossey 1989, pp. 1-11). Such a model would not localize or restrict consciousness spatiotemporally.
ADVANTAGES OF A NONLOCAL MODEL A nonlocal model of consciousness has several advantages. * Such a model would be comprehensive. It would accommodate anomalous observations that do not fit within the current local models of the mind-brain relationship. * Suggestions that consciousness is spatiotemporally extended are not new within science. For example, such proposals were advanced by Nobelist Erwin Schrödinger, one of the patriarchs of modern physics, as well as by the famous logician-mathematician Kurt Gödel (Dossey, 1989, p. 125 ff).
* A host of distant manifestations of consciousness have arisen in other fields of research, not mentioned here, which also require a nonlocal model of consciousness for their explanation (Jahn and Dunne, 1987; Radin and Nelson, 1989; Radin, 1997a). * Nonlocal events have repeatedly been demonstrated experimentally within quantum physics, our most accurate science, for over two decades (Herbert ,1987, 1993). Mind-body theorists are therefore not being asked to "invent" nonlocality. While the philosophical ramifications of quantum nonlocality are unclear, the experimental findings appear to be no longer in doubt. The fact that physicists are free to contemplate nonlocality surely makes it more permissible for mind-body theorists to do the same.
Cautions, however, are in order. It is currently unknown whether or not quantum nonlocality has any relationship whatever to the nonlocal events observed at the level of the mind, such as the distant effects of intentionality. Nobel physicist Brian Josephson has proposed that consciousness-mediated events represent a form of "biological utilization" of quantum nonlocality, and that the nonlocality observed in the subatomic domain will eventually explain nonlocal events at the macroscopic, molar levels of life (Josephson and Pallikara-Villas, 1991). This suggestion remains unproved. * Respected scholars in various fields - mathematics, physics, biology, and the cognitive sciences - including Nobelists, are offering theories that fully permit nonlocal manifestations of consciousness such as those seen in intercessory prayer (Dossey, 1997). As an example, mathematician David J. Chalmers has advanced the idea that consciousness is fundamental in the universe, perhaps on a par with matter and energy (Chalmers, 1995a, 1995b). Chalmers' view is widely considered to be the most fertile hypothesis currently circulating in the field of consciousness studies.
Chalmers cites a recent proposal along the same lines by Nobel physicist Steven Weinberg, who suggests that consciousness may be subject to physical laws all its own, which a complete "theory of everything" may have to recognize (Chalmers, 1995). While not demonstrating that the effects of distant intentionality actually exist, these proposals are cordial to the possibility and permit the above data to be taken seriously. British mathematician C. J. S. Clarke has also offered a sophisticated nonlocal theory of consciousness, which similarly regards consciousness as infinite in space and time (Clarke, 1995). Clarke's theory is anchored in an approach in mathematics known as quantum logic. These are only two among a score of provocative ideas about the possible nonlocal nature of the mind (Dossey, 1997). These hypotheses are important because they elevate the level of plausibility of intercessory prayer and distant healing.
THE MYSTYERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS Those who consider the distant effects of prayer to be implausible might be reminded that the origins of consciousness and its relationship to the brain and body are a mystery. Several outstanding scholars have emphasized our appalling ignorance about these matters. John Searle, one of the most distinguished philosophers in the field of consciousness, has said, "At our present state of the investigation of consciousness, we don't know how it works and we need to try all kinds of different ideas" (Searle, 1995). Philosopher Jerry A. Fodor has observed, "Nobody has the slightest idea how anything material could be conscious. Nobody even knows what it would be like to have the slightest idea about how anything material could be conscious. So much for the philosophy of consciousness" (Fodor, 1992). Recently Sir John Maddox, former editor of Nature, soberly stated, "The catalogue of our ignorance must...include the understanding of the human brain.... What consciousness consists of...is...a puzzle. Despite the marvelous success of neuroscience in the past century..., we seem as far away from understanding...as we were a century ago....The most important discoveries of the next 50 years are likely to be ones of which we cannot now even conceive" (Maddox, 1999). If these observers are anywhere near the truth, we should be hesitant in declaring emphatically what the mind can and cannot do. THE FUTURE One offers proposals such as these with hesitation, realizing in advance their extraordinary capacity to evoke not just skepticism but cynicism and derision as well. A response to the commonest criticisms of nonlocal manifestations of consciousness can be found elsewhere (Dossey, 1995, 1998; Honorton, 1993; Radin, 1997, pp 205-227). However, the question is really not whether our current model of the mind-brain-body relationship will change, but what the new model will be. The prediction from this quarter is that future visions of consciousness will be nonlocal in nature and will transform modern healthcare (Dossey, 1999). Nonlocal models will not do away with local formulations. They will subsume, not exclude, them, just as the more comprehensive quantum-relativistic views in physics did not eradicate Newtonian concepts, which remain extraordinarily useful. We should acknowledge, however, that nonlocality is not an "explanation" for the distant effects of intentionality. No one, including physicists, understands how nonlocal events take place, although many suggestions have been put forward. These are often based in information theory (Rubik, 1995). A novel hypothesis that relies on the quantum vacuum and zero point fields has recently been advanced by systems theorist Ervin Laszlo (Laszlo, 1995). Some insist that we delay combining prayer with the use of drugs and surgical procedures in our hospitals and clinics until we have more evidence of prayer's effectiveness. Certainly further investigation of intercessory prayer is warranted, but we need not wait until all the answers are in before employing prayer adjunctively. This view is represented by Lancet editor Richard Horton in his "Precautionary Principle" (Horton, 1998). Horton states, "We must act on facts and on the most accurate interpretation of them, using the best information. That does not mean that we must sit back until we have 100 percent evidence about everything. When the...health of the individual is at stake...we should be prepared to take action to diminish those risks even when the scientific knowledge is not conclusive." Skeptics of prayer are plentiful, of course, and skepticism should be encouraged in any area of science. However, skepticism can shade into a type of dogmatic materialism that excludes intercessory prayer in principle, as when Newton's colleagues condemned universal gravity as occult nonsense without weighing the evidence (Mills, 1996). Both true believers and committed disbelievers in intercessory prayer might heed the view of mathematical physicist and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, who co-authored Principia Mathematica with Bertrand Russell (Whitehead, 1948):
The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of its existing modes of knowledge. Sceptics and believers are all alike. At this moment scientists and sceptics are the leading dogmatists. Advance in detail is admitted: fundamental novelty is barred. This dogmatic common sense is the death of philosophical adventure. The Universe is vast.
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Meta-analyses of healing studies Abbot, Neil C, Healing as a therapy for human disease: a systematic review, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2000, 6(2), 159-169. This meta-analysis covers 59 randomized controlled studies, (including 10 dissertation abstracts and 5 pilot studies) of healing in humans up to the year 2000. Of 22 fully reported trials, 10 suggested significant effects. There were 8 studies rated as methodologically sound, of which 5 showed significant effects. The heterogeneity of the studies precluded a meta-analysis. Small sample sizes in the 15 studies in the dissertations and pilot group may have contributed to the lack of significant effects in 11 of them. The inclusion of the the abstracts and pilot studies weakens this analysis. Astin, John A/ Harkness, Elaine/ Ernst, Edzard, The efficacy of "distant healing": a systematic review of randomized trials, Annals of Internal Medicine 2000, 132, 903-910. http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/06jun00/astin.htm John Astin, assistant professor at the University of Maryland Medical School, Edzard Ernst, Chairman of the Department of Complementary Therapies at the University of Exeter in England, and Elaine Harkness, reviewed 23 studies: 5 with prayer healing, 11 with non-contact Therapeutic Touch, and 7 miscellaneous distant healing approaches. A positive effect was found in 57 percent of these. The study is a bit peculiar in including non-contact Therapeutic Touch as distant healing, but within the study this category is analyzed separately. Overall, for the 16 trials with double blinds, the average effect size was 0.40 (p < .001). For 10 TT studies meeting their selection criteria, the average effect size was 0.63 (p < .003). For the prayer studies the effect size was 0.25 (p < .009). For the "other" studies the average effect size was 0.38 (p < .073). The authors conclude that "the evidence thus far warrants further study." This is an acknowledgment (in research reviewers' terminology) that the evidence has merit. A second acknowledgment was published in the New York Times, op-ed page, June 6, 2000, in the column "Vital Signs" by Eric Nagourney, titled, "A cautious nod to "Distance Healing." Previously, the New York Times was reluctant to acknowledge healing research as valid.
Braud, William and Schlitz, Marilyn. A methodology for the objective study of transpersonal imagery, Journal of Scientific Exploration 1989, 3(1), 43-63. This meta-analysis focuses on electrodermal activity (EDA), a measure of skin resistance that reflects states of tension. Healers have been able to selectively lower and raise EDA, aided by feedback from a meter attached to the healee's skin. In a series of studies by William Braud and Marilyn Schlitz there were 323 sessions with 4 experimenters, 62 influencers and 271 subjects. Of the 15 studies, 6, (40 per cent) produced significant results. Of the 323 sessions, 57 percent were successful (p = .000023). That is, such results could have occurred by chance only twenty three times in a million. Schlitz, Marilyn/ Braud, William, Distant intentionality and healing: assessing the evidence, Alternative Therapies 1997, 3(6), 62-73. Analyzing 19 experiments in which one person sought to influence another person's electrodermal activity (EDA), they found highly significant effects (p < .0000007). Winstead-Fry, Patricia/ Kijek, Jean, An integrative review and meta-analysis of Therapeutic Touch research, Alternative Therapies 1999, 5(6) 59-67. Out of 29 dissertation and research studies that addressed questions of efficacy, 19 showed at least partial support for the research hypothesis. The other 10 rejected the hypotheses. Deficiencies in reporting details of the studies make it very difficult to compare studies. A moderate combined effect size was found (0.39) in the 13 studies that included means and standard deviations for treatment and control groups (p < .001).
Qualitative studies of healing Barrington, Rosze, A naturalistic inquiry of post-operative pain after Therapeutic Touch (In: Delores A. Gaut and Anne Boykin, Caring as Healing, New York: National League for Nursing 1994) Borg, Elizabeth W. The Experience of Healing During Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness: An Heuristic Investigation, Doctoral dissertation, Uunion Institute 1994 Cabico, Lucila Levardo, A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Nurses Practicing Therapeutic Touch (Master's thesis), Buffalo, NY: D'Youville College 1993. Cooperstein, Allan, The myths of healing: a summary of research into transpersonal healing experiences, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 1992, 86, 99-133. Also as: The Myths of Healing: A Descriptive Analysis of Transpersonal Healing, Doctoral dissertation, Saybrook Institute, California 1990. Davis, Frank Stafford, Charismatic Christian Spiritual healing in Two Cultural Contexts: An Existential-Phenomenological Approach, Doctoral dissertation, Duke University 1990. France, Nancy E.M. The child's perception of the human energy field using therapeutic touch, Journal of Holistic Nursing 1933, 11(4), 319-331. Harris, Darryl James, The Mystery and meaning of Reiki, Batchelor of Health Science Thesis, University of Western Sydney Nepean (School of health & Nursing) 1998 (www.sites.netscape.net/strgzrdjh/thesis/title.html) Heidt, Patricia Rose, Openness - A qualitative analysis of nurses' and patients' experiences of therapeutic touch, Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship 1990, 22(3), 180-186 Hughes, Pamela Potter/ Meize-Grochowski, Robin/ Neighbor, Catherine/ Harris, Duncan, Therapeutic Touch with adolescent psychiatric patients, Journal of Holistic Nursing 1996, 14(1), 6-23 Kiernan, Jane S. The Experience of Therapeutic Touch in the Lives of Five Postpartal Women (Dissertation), NYC, New York University1997. MacNeil, Melanie Sue, Therapeutic Touch and Tension Headaches: A Rogerian Study (Master's thesis), D'Youville College 1995. Markides, Emily Joannides, Complementary Energetic Practices: An Exploration Into the World of Maine Women Healers (Alternative Therapies, Healing), (dissertation) University of Maine 1996. Nebauer, Monica, Healing through Therapeutic Touch: one person's perspective, in: Gaut, D.A./Boykin, A., Caring as Healing, New York: National League for Nursing 1994, 85-101 (single case study). Pattison, E. Mansell, et al. Faith healing, Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 1973, 156, 397-409. Peters, Pamela Joan, The Lifestyle Changes of Selected Therapeutic Touch Practitioners: An Oral History (Alternative Medicine), (dissertation), Walden University 1995. Polk, S.H. Client's Perceptions of Experiences Following the Intervention Modality of Therapeutic Touch (Master's thesis) Tempe: Arizona State University 1985. Renard, Ann M, The Experience of Healing from Deprivation of Bonding (Touch, Emotional Attachment), (dissertation) The Union Institute 1994. Samarel, Nelda, The experience of receiving Therapeutic Touch, Journal of Advanced Nursing 1992, 17,651-657. Tilley, James A. A Phenomenology of the Christian Healer's Experience with Faith Healing, Doctoral dissertation, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Psychology 1989, Van Dragt, Ryan, Paranormal Healing: A Phenomenology of the Healer's Experience, Vols. I & II. Doctoral dissertation, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Psychology 1980
Zambetis, Donna Blanche, Attitudes of Women with Breast Cancer Toward Therapeutic Touch (Master's thesis), Michigan State University 1996. Schweitzer, Susan Fredricka, The Effects of Therapeutic Touch on Short-Term Memory Recall in the Aging Populatio: A Pilot Study (Master's thesis), Reno: University of Nevada 1980. Thomas-Beckett, Julie Gwen, Attitudes Toward Therapeutic Touch: A Pilot Study of Women with Breast Cancer (Master's thesis) East Lansing: Michigan State University 1991. Mitchell, Annie, Researching healing: a psychologist's perspective, J. Alternative and Complementary Medicine (UK) 2000, 6(2), 181-186 Advocates qualitative studies of healing
Surveys of healees' satisfaction with healing Attevelt, J.T.M. A Statistical Survey of the Patients of Paranormal Healers, Amsterdam: Nederlands Federation for Paranormal and Naturopathic Healers (NFPNH) 1981. Boucher, Faith Katherine, The Cadences of Healing: Perceived Benefits from Treatment Among the Clientele of Psychic Healers, Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis 1980. Cohen, John, Spiritual healing: a complementary role in general practice, Modern Medicine 1990 (Sep), 663-665. Haraldsson, Erlendur and Olafsson, Orn, A survey of psychic healing in Iceland, Christian Parapsychologist 1980, 3(8), 276-279. Harvey, David, The Power to Heal: An Investigation of Healing and the Healing Experience, Wellingborough, England: Aquarian 1983. Krippner, Stanley, A questionnaire study of experiential reactions to a Brazilian healer, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 1990, 56, 208- 215. Riscalla, Louise Mead, A study of religious healers and healees, Journal of the American Society for Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine 1982, 29(3), 97- 103. Westerbeke, Patricia/ Gover, John/ Krippner, Stanley, Subjective reactions to the Philippino "healers:" a questionnaire study, In: Morris, J. D./ Roll, W. G./ Morris, R. L. (Eds), Research in Parapsychology 1976, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow 1977, 70-71. Wharton, Richard and Lewith, George. Complementary medicine and the general practitioner, British Medical Journal 1986, 292.
Survey instrument for patient outcomes An excellent questionnaire for physical and mental health is the SF-36, described in the following references. Farr, Charles H. et al, Patient outcomes to alternative medicine therapies as measured by the SF-36 - preliminary report, Townsend Letter 1999, 186, 24-25. Medical Outcomes Trust, 20 Park Plaza, suite 1014, Boston, MA 02116-4313, promoting measuring tools that include patients and health caregivers. Ware, J.E. et al, SF-36 Health Survey Manual and Interpretation Guide, Boston, MA: New England medical Center, The Health Institute, 1993.
Clinical observations, multiple case studies Healing Research, Volume I includes a broad spectrum of reports by researchers on how healers work and on some of the effects they bring about in physical and psychological problems.. References of particular value, reviewed in Healing Research, include: Casdorph, H. Richard, The Miracles, Plainfield, NJ, Logos International 1976. This is the best published series of case studies of healing, mostly by the late Katherine Kuhlman, reviewed by a physician.
Dowling, St. John., Lourdes cures and their medical assessment, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 1984, 77, 634-638. Engel, Hans G., Energy Healing, Research Report Los Angeles, CA: Ernest Holmes Research Foundation 1978, 1-15. A physician shares some of his clinical experiences, integrating spiritual healing in his practice. (Summarized in Healing Research, Volume I)
Clinical observations, single case studies Kirkpatrick, Richard A. Witchcraft and lupus erythematosus, Journal of the American Medical Association 1981, 245(9), 1937. Nebauer, Monica, Healing through Therapeutic Touch: one person's perspective, in: Gaut, D.A./Boykin, A., Caring as Healing, New York: National League for Nursing 1994, 85-101.
Anecdotal reports of healers There are numerous reports by healers on how they work and what they believe happens in spiritual healing. References of particular value, reviewed in Healing Research, include: Edwards, Harry, Thirty Years a Spiritual Healer, London: Herbert Jenkins 1968. Edwards, Harry. The Science Of Spirit Healing, London: Rider 1945. Gardner, Nancy and Gardner, Esmond, Five Great Healers Speak Here, Wheaton, IL: Quest 1982. MacManaway, Bruce with Turcan, Johanna, Healing: The Energy That Can Restore Health, Wellingsborough, England: Thorsons 1983. Tester, M. H. The Healing Touch, London: Psychic 1982 (Orig. 1970). Turner, Gordon, An Outline of Spiritual Healing, London: Psychic Press 1970. Turner, Gordon, A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of an Extraordinary Healer, London: Talmy, Franklin 1974.
Healers' perspectives on research Brown, C. K. Methodological problems of clinical research into spiritual healing: the healer's perspective, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2000, 6(2), 171-176.
Electroencephalographic (EEG) studies Cade, Maxwell/ Coxhead, N. The Awakened Mind, 2nd ed. Shaftesbury, UK: Element 1986. Synchronization of both hemispheres during meditation, healing; EEG synchronizations of healers and healees. EEG biofeedback device displaying activity in both hemispheres 0.5-32 Hz. Charman, Robert A, Placing healers, healees, and healing into a wider research context, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2000, 6(2), 177-180. Brief review article (18 refs) Dilbeck, MC/ Banus, CB/ Polanzi, C/ Landrith, GS, Test of a field model of consciousness and social change: the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and decreased urban crime, Journal of Mind Behaviour 1988, 9(4), 457-486. Left and Right hemispheric profiles synchronized 7-8 HZ, then group synchrony Duane, TD/ Behrendt, T. Extrasensory electroencephalographic induction between identical twins, Science 1965, 150-367. EEGs synchronized for one twin closing eyes in 2/15 pairs. Grinberg-Zylberbaum, J./ Delafior, M./ Sanchez Arellano, M. E./ Guevara, MA/ Perez, M. Human communication and the electrical activity of the brain, Subtle Energies 1992, 3(3), 25-41. Pairs of subjects feeling affinity for each other, startle response in one registered in EEG of other. Orme-Johnson, D/ dillbeck, MC/ Wallace, RK/ Landrith, GS, Intersubject EEG coherence: Is consciousness a field? International Journal of Neuroscience 1982, 16, 203-209. Seto, A/ Kusaka, C./ Nakazato, S. et al, Detection of extraordinary large biomagnetic field strength from the human hand during external qi emission, Acupuncture and Electrotherapeutics Research International 1992, 17, 75-94. Hands of healers emit EM fields during healing, 2-30 Hz Sugano, H/ Uchida, S/ Kuramoto, I, A new approach to the study of subtle energies, Subtle Energies 1994, 5(2), 143-165. Multiple EM measurements show healer-healee interactions. Zimmerman, J. New technologies detect effects in healing hands, Brain/Mind Bulletin 1985, 10(2), 20-23. Hands of healers emit EM fields during healing, 2-30 Hz
Related References Eisenberg, David et al, Unconventional medicine in the United States: Prevalence, costs and patterns of use, New England J. Medicine 1993, 328, 246-252. Eisenberg, David, et al. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: results of a follow-up national survey, Journal of the American Medical Association 1998, 280(18), 1569-1575.
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