The main reason the medical community states for being against energy work, and alternative therapies in general, is that they claim hasn't been proven to work in the way they insist on proving things. They don't feel that the research that is shown is valid. If we look at that as the cause in this discussion, what is the effect of this stance?

There are many things that happen as a result. Doctors discourage patients from getting treatment that could be beneficial. People who only do what their doctor says are reluctant to look for alternative answers, even if they are not satisfied with results they are getting through traditional means. People who do use alternative treatments are less likely to tell their doctor about it, for fear of criticism. The attitude of the professional community makes it harder to get funding to do the research that is required. Less research, less chance of proving its validity.

When we are talking about the subtle energies of the body, we are talking about energy that cannot be measured in the same way that science normally tests things. The technology does not exist that can measure these energies the same way other things in science are measured. The only way to learn more about it, is to explore other ways to look at things. For people so firmly convinced that theirs is the only way, that can be very difficult. This attitude causes the rift that exists in the healing field.

My experience has been that those practicing traditional medicine, whether the actual doctor or the patient firm in his belief that it is the only way, are not anxious to look at alternative health care as anything other than something fanatics, or desperate people use. Certainly no intelligent person would fall for that hooey. I do admit that the attitudes are starting to change. More and more people are seeing the benefits of alternative care and therefore the medical community is starting to take note by having classes available in their medical schools so their doctors are more aware of what is out there. However, as long as the pharmaceutical companies have a say-so in what is taught in the medical schools, things will not change much. There is too much money at stake. Much of the research dollars are controlled by the pharmaceutical companies. They want to invest in whatever is going to make them more money. Alternative treatments will not. Is it any wonder that they fight it so. As a result, too many people are suffering needlessly. Main cause - main effect.

Opposition to energy work, and other types of alternative care, usually comes from the traditional medical community. A tool that they use in this opposition is to simply dismiss it as silly. The technical word used by a former director of research at a center for complementary medicine at the University of Maryland was "hooey." I have come across the term "pseudoscience" a couple of times. It was used in conjunction with the opinion that it is simply a bunch of charlatans promoting the equivalent of modern-day snake oil.

The reasoning for this attitude, stated over and over again, is that alternative therapies, energy medicine included here, can't be proven to work, at least, not in the same way that traditional medicine is proven. If scientists can't see it under a microscope or measure it in some way, they don’t believe it. They say that there is no proof that the energies referred to even exist, because they can’t be measured. The claim is made that results of research that has been done is not legitimate. They say that most of the claims come from anecdotal sources, and that is not good enough. The scientific community has certain standards by which all things must be measured, and because of that, energy medicine does not measure up.

Fear is used to promote the idea that alternative therapies don’t work. It appears that there is a huge concern over the public's ability to choose wisely when it comes to health care. It's interesting to me that even though the medical community says energy medicine can't be proven to work, they are very confident that it can be harmful, if for no other reason than the patient doesn't get the proper care - theirs. The fear: they may be delaying treatment that could really help, rather than doing something that will do no good. The medical community, pharmaceutical companies included, wants to let people know that they are truly taking their lives into their own, unqualified hands if they choose treatment other than that recommended by a qualified, medical professional, especially when that treatment cannot be proven to be of any benefit, according to their methods. Fear can be a powerful tool and it is used often to manipulate people to do things.