Energy Medicine, Putative "Pseudo-science"

There are those who contend that energy medicine methods are "pseudo-scientific" and there is no evidence to support them. Aside from this claim exhibiting more than a little disingenuousness (there are studies that offer limited scientific support for some  modalities), Western science has long exhibited an inherent bias against anything that can't be clinically measured, doesn't take as primary or rely exclusively on statistically-derived population norms to delineate the contours of 'reality', and is not previously accommodated by its world-view. I say this as a former scientist myself who has used statistics in just such a way to certify my conclusions. This is an honorable calling and a perfectly legitimate enterprise as far as it goes, and it works quite well in the strictly material dimensions. But the appearance of consciousness in the field of consideration adds an x-factor, a confounding variable that science can't quite wrap its head around. The more consciousness is present, the more freedom and unpredicted possibilities are injected into the system and the less deterministic or stochastic reality proves to be. The absence of abundant evidence traditionally considered for the efficacy of energy medicine in such cases is not the same as evidence of absence.

Traditional Oriental Medicine, including acupuncture, has been around and effective for a large percentage of the human population for over 5000 years; Ayurvedic medicine from India, 3000 years. These are both, at root, energy medicine systems. They would not have survived and prospered for so long had they been ineffective in improving people's health. Furthermore, the school of experience and practical on-the-ground results testifies to a truth contrary to the assertions of energy medicine critics. Western medicine tends to mostly discount and devalue any of the more subjective perspectives, and sometimes seeks to convince the patient of the lack of validity of a paradigm, even contrary to their own subjective experiences, solely by pointing to numbers and test results. I experienced this once myself when seeking assistance for a health problem in the 1990s; I had personally experienced improvement using an alternative modality, and a physician sought to discount my experience by saying there was no scientific evidence supporting the modality. Which viewpoint do you think I chose to honor? This myopia and close-mindedness by many in the medical establishment, that chooses not acknowledge any dimension of health that cannot be demonstrated on a strictly material basis, might be called a "denibo" effect, the obverse of the placebo effect - an adamant denial of any evidence not comporting with the assumptions and premises adopted frame of reference, and the strident refusal to reconsider the premises of the frame of evaluation. It is not so much that those premises are wrong; in many cases, they are correct insofar as they extend. In some cases they may be only partially correct. Instead, it is that the premises come to be considered absolute and beyond questioning, even when confronted with living evidence demonstrating the validity and efficacy of alternative frames of reference when conventional medicine has no answers for the phenomenon and has no relief to offer the patient. It is a peculiar and persistent blind spot of Western medicine.

The scientific method and Western medicine have their place, but neither is the last word in matters of health or mental health. The human being, the human psyche and spirit, and life in general are ultimately mysteries. And at the end of the day, the patient's subjective experience of her own health and energy levels is at least as important as any objectively-measured characteristics of health improvement or decline.  Ideally, we would all like to have doctors that are competent in their chosen profession, empathetic, and who would be open enough to working in a partnership with the patient to optimize health by any means mutually agreed to. But too many doctors act the bully and attempt to dictate terms to the patient, in some cases going so far as to attempt to disparage their personal views and ridicule them in some subtle fashion as individuals who subscribe to these views. If you are unfortunate enough to have a doctor like this, find one who is willing to work with you as a co-equal partner on the health journey. You are the captain of your ship; you are the one who lives in your body and knows it and its responses most intimately. Your perspective matters as much as the doctor's. And it just may be that you find the answers that resolve your health challenges beyond the fence lines of conventional medicine. Energy medicine, the so-called "pseudo-science" may have the just the resolution you seek.