Woo-Woo Therapy Probably Works

But probably not for whatever reason it purports

Skeptics call it Woo-Woo, researchers call it New Age, and practitioners call it all sorts of names: Energy Medicine, Healing Therapy, Holistic Health, Integrative Medicine, Mind-Body Medicine, Spiritual Healing, or Wellness Therapy.

Whichever phrase you prefer, new-age therapy is a catch-all term that covers a variety of alternative or complementary healing practices, virtually all of which lack scientific evidence to support their effectiveness.

Energy? Maybe. (Image source: DeepAI)

But, but, but…

But that doesn’t mean New Age therapies don’t work. Despite the fact that most of these therapies lack a rigorous scientific foundation, they nevertheless seem to provide some level of benefit to clients — if only a sense of relaxation and comfort.

What complicates the scientific study of New Age therapies is the placebo effect — the so-called “sugar pill” response. And it’s very real: When users believe that a treatment works, symptoms subside — even when there is no actual effect of the treatment (Edzard, 2013). The placebo effect is strong, and makes it very difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a given therapy.

Another possible reason these therapies work: “the added time, attention, and focused concern…