Stuff that occurs to me

All of my 'how to' posts are tagged here. The most popular posts are about blocking and private accounts on Twitter, also the science communication jobs list. None of the science or medical information I might post to this blog should be taken as medical advice (I'm not medically trained).

Think of this blog as a sort of nursery for my half-baked ideas hence 'stuff that occurs to me'.

Contact: @JoBrodie Email: jo DOT brodie AT gmail DOT com

Science in London: The 2018/19 scientific society talks in London blog post

Saturday 11 May 2013

Reiki (CNHC-registered practitioners) and misleading claims - looking good, fairly few, hooray

I suppose this is the second in what might be a series of CNHC-related posts. The first explains a bit more about what the CNHC, ASA and CAP do, this post assumes the terms are familiar.

In 'Therapies: Reiki' the CAP advice for anyone making advertising / marketing claims for reiki is very clear that there's no evidence that the intervention has any healing effects on the body. Marketers also need to avoid naming medical conditions but are apparently on safe ground if they refer to emotional or spirtitual benefits.

Similarly the guidance on what reiki is, from the CNHC, is a good example of not implying any misleading claims.

Are the practitioners who've registered with CNHC complying with guidance from CAP and their regulating body in terms of what they say on their marketing material?

I searched for all Reiki practitioners within 20 miles of London.

Therapist one
Mandarin Oriental hotel (http://www.mandarinoriental.com/london/)
To be honest I couldn't find any mention at all of Reiki, let alone any misleading claims.




Therapist two
Victoria Dalgliesh (http://www.victoriadalgleish.co.uk/all-about-reiki-healing/)
No misleading claims found.




Therapist three
Melanie Glanville (http://www.melanieglanville.co.uk/reiki-usui.php)
Sadly this website offers ear candling which is pointless nonsense and the Reiki claims look like they might cross into things that registered practitioners can't say, so this is one to come back to.



Therapist four
New Cross Natural Therapy Centre (http://www.newcrossnaturaltherapy.com/therapy_reiki.html)
No misleading claims for Reiki here. Interestingly the page on craniosacral therapy (CST) has a whinge about the ASA and the restrictions on being allowed to claim stuff, and references a separate page on CST which does make claims. However as far as I can tell whoever's doing the CST there is not CNHC registered.


Therapist five
Divine Life Reiki (http://www.divinelifereiki.com/divinelifereiki/About_Reiki.html)
Pretty harmless stuff, mostly, I think.




Therapist six
Healing with Heidi (http://www.healingwithheidi.co.uk/reiki-treatment.php)
Perfect. Nothing misleading here at all.




Therapist seven
LPJ Healing Energy (http://www.lpjhealingenergy.co.uk/#/reiki/4560763205)
Another ear candler alas. Worse, the page includes a list of conditions that Reiki is claimed to help with including ME, rheumatism and arthritis. Quite bad.



Therapist eight
Soul Counselling (http://www.soulcounselling.com/)
The domain is for sale so no (relevant) misleading claims at all here.




Therapist nine
Lesley Stephenson (http://www.balancetheclinic.com/)
(The web address given on CNHC's website is slightly wrong - an extra letter in the middle which is obviously out of place and doesn't load, I've assumed this is the correct version). 
I couldn't find any mention of Reiki on the website at all, so no misleading claims there. However they've run amok with claims for craniosacral therapy including claims for meningitis along with asthma and arthritis. Oh dear... however their CST therapist isn't listed on CNHC website.




That's all the Reiki therapists within 20 miles of London who are registered with the CNHC and who have a website (there are other therapists which I've not listed as they don't have a website). Only 1 of 9 therapists is making really dodgy claims about Reiki, two I've marked as amber - the second of the two doesn't actually make any claims about Reiki but the ones for CST are pretty bad. Everyone else (six) gets a green mark :-)




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Comment policy: I enthusiastically welcome corrections and I entertain polite disagreement ;) Because of the nature of this blog it attracts a LOT - 5 a day at the moment - of spam comments (I write about spam practices,misleading marketing and unevidenced quackery) and so I'm more likely to post a pasted version of your comment, removing any hyperlinks.

Comments written in ALL CAPS LOCK will be deleted and I won't publish any pro-homeopathy comments, that ship has sailed I'm afraid (it's nonsense).