TC writes: "I have a question about Bach Flower Remedies. I am trying to find out if these remedies are considered New Age. I have a few books book about them which state that it “treats the individual not the symptoms / or disease. They work on an emotional condition of the person concerned.” “The effect of taking the remedies is not to suppress negative attitudes but transforms them into positive ones, stimulating self-healing.” Can you let me know what the Church teaches about this product?"
VR writes: "I have been getting homeopathy treatment from a chiropractor using Auricular Medicine. It is a bio-energetic medicine testing protocol that enables them to objectively determine which homeopathics are appropriate (and not appropriate) for each patient. Is this New Age medicine?"
DG asks: "There are so many alternative medicine practices out there. Some of them sound very suspicious to me and refer to 'life force energy' and 'spirit guides' but some sound okay. I even know of a Catholic chiropractor who prays before treating people but he's a Reiki Master! How does a Catholic know which ones are compatible with our faith and which ones are not?"
OB writes: "Please tell me if the Acculief is okay to use? It's essentially a clamp placed on the hand that helps alleviate headaches. I ordered it from a catalog. The description however, didn't say anything about accupressure or energy, etc, unlike the instructions that arrived in the package! The other question: What's the difference between accupressure and massaging trigger points?"
CC asks: "Can you tell me if 'dry needling' is a New Age practice? I have heard a couple of people mention having had it done by their physicians in recent months and had never heard of it."
If your son or daughter comes home from school one day sporting a little macrame-style bracelet with bright colored beads called a "Shamballa bracelet", it might be time for a heart-to-heart talk on how not to throw money away on worthless baubles.
MH writes: "HeartMath is a program widely used by some cardiologists and other health professionals as well as the field of education. It uses heart rate variability and scientific research about heartmath talks about the neurocardiology aspect of the heart in healing stress. What do you think?"
PT asks: “I am writing you about craniosacral treatment. It is a kind of massage, physical therapy variant. In the Vatican document it is not referred to directly but I understand that it is based on oriental "energy" belief system. Would it be possible for you to enlighten me about this some more. People have been asking me.”
TC writes: "I have a question about Bach Flower Remedies. I am trying to find out if these remedies are considered New Age. I have a few books book about them which state that it “treats the individual not the symptoms / or disease. They work on an emotional condition of the person concerned.” “The effect of taking the remedies is not to suppress negative attitudes but transforms them into positive ones, stimulating self-healing.” Can you let me know what the Church teaches about this product?"
