[HealthDharma/Arts] Art & Wisdom on the Wellness Industry

[Jundo]

With so many questionable, quirky and quack medicines, supplements and "cures" available online and elsewhere, I think it important for folks to be cautious. I support what this artist is saying ...

‘It’s not true, stop lying:’ Why this artist is taking on the wellness industry

For the past two years, the 33-year-old Croatian artist has been deep diving into what she called “this whole healing, self-development, self-optimization space”. What has emerged is “it’s not true!!! stop lying!” — a solo show at Sprüth Magers’ Los Angeles gallery, and a riposte to the wellness industry. ...

... In the city often considered the spiritual home of self-optimization, “it’s not true!!! stop lying!” examines Turato’s own skeptical but also susceptible response to the pervasive notion that we can become healthier, happier and truer versions of ourselves. “Sleep / it’s good for you!” glares one wall-mounted enamel panel. Another posits: “I know we are all into woo here, but homeopathy is fake, right? Right!” Meanwhile, a trio of wall paintings, in stark black and white, shout out: “authenticity”, “haha”, “speaking my truth!!!” ...

... She reels off a list: Tomatis sound therapy; EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), to process traumatic memories, and Internal Family Systems, “where you kind of talk to parts of yourself”; the Feldenkrais Method of mindful movement; Holotropic breathwork. “You basically hyperventilate for three hours with eyes closed to this crazy music,” she says of the latter, which she still does once a month. “At some point I started noticing that it wasn’t about work anymore; it was about me.” In this way, Turato embodies both consumer and critic, and explores her own conflicting, even contradictory standpoints. ...

Gassho, J

stlah

[Kokuu]

Hi Jundo

While I would agree that there are many questionable therapies on offer at the moment, some of the ones she takes aim at seem strange as they are supported by evidence.

In particular, EMDR is now widely used to help people deal with trauma and a 2018 systematic review found it to be more effective than other interventions, although admitting that sample sizes tend to be small (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals...018.00923/full). The UK National Health Service offers EMDR as part of its services for working with trauma: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/con...tsd/treatment/

Internal Family Systems was designated as an evidence-based practice on the National Registry for Evidence-based Programs and Practices in 2015 (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/t...ystems-therapy) and I recently attended a workshop on IFS hosted by a Buddhist psychotherapist and found it really helpful. As IFS works on the idea of our mind having multiple parts, some of which can be in conflict with each other (such as a part which wants to go out in the evening and another part that knows we should get an early night), I think it is also very compatible with Buddhism in terms of allowing us to see that we have a number of different mental processes operating at any one time, none of which is a unitary self.

So, yes, be cautious, but also a bit of research on specific therapies and practices would have been useful to this author before declaring them to be woo.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Daiman]

The issue I have run in to with EMDR is that not everyone is trained very well. In the beginning of EMDR practitioners were a tight knit group of people taking their training directly from Francine Shapiro, the creator of EMDR and the results tended to be very good. As things moved away from that, the typical mess unfolded in that shorter, stripped down trainings were offered and some therapists ended up not being properly trained and there were reports of patients having adverse reactions to it. This kind of thing happens a lot in healthcare and particularly in my line of work. Mindfulness is another great example of this. Mindfulness-based interventions take years of intensive training that involve several 7-10 day retreats, supervision, peer review, etc. But, now people can take a 3 day workshop with PESI and become certified in MBSR. I think often times it is the commodification of a method or technique, that easily moves it in the direction of being less effective.

Gassho,
Daiman
St/LAH

[Jundo]

Very interesting. It sounds like she painted with too broad a brush in making her list.

Gassho, J

[Kokuu]

The issue I have run in to with EMDR is that not everyone is trained very well. In the beginning of EMDR practitioners were a tight knit group of people taking their training directly from Francine Shapiro, the creator of EMDR and the results tended to be very good. As things moved away from that, the typical mess unfolded in that shorter, stripped down trainings were offered and some therapists ended up not being properly trained and there were reports of patients having adverse reactions to it. This kind of thing happens a lot in healthcare and particularly in my line of work.

It does seem to be an ongoing problem in healthcare, Daiman. As I think you know, my ex-wife works as a psychologist and she has seen the National Health Service gradually strip down what services offer, with less well-trained staff delivering fewer sessions in most cases.

With increasing levels of people with mental health conditions, it is understandable that services try to find ways to cut costs, but it is also not hard to see that approach often being counter-productive in not giving people adequate care, and even, as you say, causing adverse reactions.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Ryumon]

I know nothing about EMDR, but the fact that the NHS supports it is not a justification for me. When I moved to France in the mid 1980s, I discovered homeopathy. I’d never heard of it, but it sounded interesting, and I ended up being treated by homeopathic doctors. This is because, in France, you can be, a practicing doctor and prescribe homeopathic remedies.

Homeopathy is still covered by the French healthcare system, which, to me suggested that it was reliable. This was all pre-Internet, and it took a long time for me to realize that I was being hoodwinked.

So I learned that national healthcare systems supporting alternative medicine are no guarantee of that alternative medicine having any validity.

Gassho,
Ryūmon (Kirk)
Sat Lah

[Kokuu]

I know nothing about EMDR, but the fact that the NHS supports it is not a justification for me.

That is fair enough, and why I included a review article.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[PeaceMan]

Here is a useful summary of the research by the American Psychological Association.

https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/index

Sat/Lah

Jon

[StoBird]

Thanks Jundo! My "curative fantasies" can get very selfish. There are all kinds of woo and pseudoscience out there and when I am moody I fall for them. I mean, I did join this cult didn't I? ;-)

Gassho,
Tom

SatLah

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