How do you determine whether someone is a "quack" healer?

[Wind Horse]

My Mom has been diagnosed with a form of lung cancer that her doctors who practice Western medicine say they can't cure. She's been given 4-6 months to live. Therefore, my Mom wants to try alternative medicine/treatments--natural cures. And we've found there are so many practitioners and treatments, etc. We're even receiving different recommendations from friends and family. It's overwhelming. Because I assume there are a lot of healers who participate in this forum, I wanted to ask what's the best way to determine whether, for example, someone calling themselves a naturopath, etc., is a "quack" or is a practitioner who really knows what they're doing (a professional)? We're really looking for someone who understands the power of nutrition/herbs, etc., to help the body slow down (and cure if possible) the cancer. My Mom might be open to Eastern medicine as well, but not "crystal therapy," etc.---she wouldn't go for that.

We live in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, so if someone wants to PM me the name of a good alternative healing practitioner in this area who's experienced with treating cancer, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Theresa

[RedSky]

Hi Theresa,
I'm sorry to hear about your Mothers illness. I have heard of peoples bodies healing themselves from similar circumstances. I don't know how to find a practitioner. Perhaps there are organizations that can be consulted. I would be wary of people asking money for services and promising cures. I understand that there are those that prey on peoples fears in order to get money and that they come with and without professional credentials. I would also seek referrals from other sufferers and their relatives as professional services vary. A good friend is in the midst of similar travails. He was fortunate to find a sympathetic and competent oncologist. My friend has a very strong will to live and has modified his diet and his thinking in order to lessen the load on his body. He still has a way to go but has made remarkable progress. The primary cancer is an "inflammation" now. The liver lesions are not detectable and they are willing to treat a secondary kidney lesion. Really miraculous results. If he had stayed with the first oncologist he would likely be a memory. Thats, ok too in the larger scheme, however 90 days was not his destiny.
I have nothing to offer but good intentions and you certainly have those from me. I expect others will be along with other recomendations
Solstice blessings and keep the faith.

[ShadowCat]

It's always sad to get this kind of news. I wish your mom first and formost happiness, quality of life and dignity.

As I'm half a world away I can't give any concrete recommendations. Your best Quack-antenna is trusting your basic b.s. detector. It's okay to talk energies, but every healer should have a working knowledge of anatomy, allopathic treatments, physiology and basic biochemistry. So, if you ask a healer why his or her treatment works, there should be a decent and understandable explanation. If it is secret mumbojumbo, it's probably baloney. Any healer that "guarantees" health is probably a quack, so are most healers that claim that they are the only ones who can heal you or healers that exclude other therapies. If a therapy is extravagantly expensive: be wary. If a therapyplan has to be complex beyond believe, be wary, because it's often a trick to blame any failure on the patient for not following the precise instructions.

The truth it your mom will have to educate herself first and formost, learn what is happening in her body, learn to feel how her body really feels, what parts feel "sick" and what parts "healthy", does she feel confident and strong, or scared? What treatment feels good, what doesn't? She has to develop her own intuition beyond anything else, because every cancer is different and every body needs different healing techniques.

The biggest question is: does she really want to live, even if the path back to health may be long and hard... Some people are just "done" on this plain, and a worthy exit may sometimes be more healing than battling to regain health. What does your mom really want? How does she want to live? What regrets does she have?

For starters, I can recommend the following websites (although as always: every-one sells bs every once in a while, so remain sceptical)
http://www.drweil.com/
http://www.mercola.com
http://kriscarr.com/

Again: blessings to your mom and to you. Stay strong, stay together, keep the faith.

[Corwen]

By how much they charge. Spiritual healing is available for free at most spiritualist churches by the way.

[Lily]

They say they can't cure the disease but certainly they can apply palliative treatments - to improve quality of life?

Is she being asked to abandon all standard medical treatment by a healer, then stay away.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

I'm sorry to hear about the cancer. My recommendation is to talk to the healer. A healer should not be able to "guarantee" nor promise a full recovery, most alternative medicine helps the person heal themselves. Perhaps ask for references, or where they studied and where trained. Ask they to explain what they do and how they think it will help. Get a feel for the person and trust your inner voice. Cancer is a tricky thing to heal for any healer. Cancer is rapid cell growth or when cells divide but dont' do so all the way so they put fourth extra effort only to make a mass of cells. Either way it results in a mass and starts taking up room. The reason it can be so tricky is most healers try to heal by finding homeostasis or boosting someone's regenerative powers. However in the case of cancer the body's natural reaction is a bad reaction, if the healer starts trying to mess with the balance of the bodies energies to retard the growth it can be worse then leaving it be. Cancer is a tricky one however there are methods can be tried. The better healers in my opinion will try to work with boosting her own energy while calming that area to help her body realize enough growth there, too much. then work with her with things she can do to change daily routines to keep her body functioning. This is just my take, I wish you the best of luck, and may the blessings of the Gods be with you both.

[Aigeann]

My Mom has been diagnosed with a form of lung cancer that her doctors who practice Western medicine say they can't cure. She's been given 4-6 months to live. Therefore, my Mom wants to try alternative medicine/treatments--natural cures.
Thanks,
Theresa

Oh my dear HUG I'm so sorry to learn this. My best, though weak, advise would be to ask for references as well as trust your gut when looking for a healer. It's just...what works for one person may not work for another (just like some are allergic to shellfish and others aren't, everyone's body is different in how it reacts to something).

I will keep you both in my prayers and will light a candle. Blessings to you.

[elementalheart]

If you know what kind of treatment and practitioner personality your mum would respond to then seek recommendations on that basis rather than whether/what they charge (free may be a novice or just someone with the luxury of another source of income and price may not indicate quality either as some will try and keep it low while others want to impress and make money or limit demands on them for whatever reason).

Some of the best practitioners are not the best marketers, some may lack the pizazz of a media aware culture and some frankly may seem to lack interpersonal skills not because they don't care but simply because they know it isn't them doing the work and their ego doesn't require an outing to impress you but once they're "on" they do the work and that's what counts not who has the best website or name or outfit Peacocks can be impressive but if she needs effectiveness then look past all the feathers for the heart.

Know your mum better than she does herself if you can - would she need "nice" to let go or would she respond to authority or even somewhat abrupt? Ask about her experiences with the doctors and you may gauge more than she knows. My mum had a doctor who was abrupt, bordering on rude, but she trusted him when the chips were down he was 100% on her side and on her case if need be aswell as pushy enough with hospitals to get her what she needed. Nice folk irritate me beyond belief but she'd try and be nice back to the point she'd claim to feel better than she was just to not be a nuisance or upset anyone - the doctor was to the point and a little scary and she could talk about scary stuff with him which when she had terminal cancer, was what she needed.

If you can't get personal recommendations in the area you want, I would suggest you try a few of them yourself first and see if you can step back from presentation (marketing, charges, complexity, interpersonal impressiveness) and assess the results on yourself. If you have an intention to use it a. to assess suitability/results for your mum and b. to give you additional capacity within yourself to support her then it should be possible to find someone effective on you that you can genuinely recommend based on that plus that you think your mum would also respond to him/her and the treatment form on offer. And help you deal with what comes too. I would never recommend anyone I wouldn't allow to treat me or a close friend/relation so it would be a worthwhile investment even if you don't get the results so she won't have to get disappointing treatments when her strength of heart and will is most needed.

[jgolledge]

Hi Theresa,

First let me say I am very sorry to hear about your mother. I think however it is probably for her benefit that she is looking to go the alternative route. The chemotherapy and "experimental drugs" offered by allopathic medicine to my experience have only made it very hard living for the patient and not offered very much benefit at all. I hope I can shed some light on some things for you. I have been studying Herbal Medicine for more than 20 years now, and I know there are definitely some treatments available in this field.

Everything depends on the individual person, in terms of treatment but I would strongly recommend looking into a Herbalist in your area. The best way to guarantee they are not a "quack" is to look up the American Herbalist's Guild directory and find one close by in the directory.

Also a note, Naturopaths are like General Practitioners of Alternative Medicine. They learn a little bit of everything, but don't usually specialize in any one particular area. You are better to find a specialist such as a Herbalist or a Homeopath usually as they have most often spent a lot of time in that one area. Here is a link to the American Herbalist's Guild who maintain a certain standard when accepting Herbalists into their organization. You will also find more information there:

http://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/fundamentals

I hope this helps, and all the best of wishes to you and your family.

Warmly,
Jamie.

[Aosto]

I've read and heard wonders about the Gerson therapy. A natural, organic, diet to flood the body with nutrients. http://gerson.org/gerpress/the-gerson-therapy/
they do have a clinic in Mexico, but it's only licensed by the Gerson institute and the cost is $5500 a week with a mandatory 2 week stay. I recommend reading up on the diet at least.

[Corwen]

and the cost is $5500 a week with a mandatory 2 week stay.

Please see my point above...

[Aosto]

and the cost is $5500 a week with a mandatory 2 week stay.

Please see my point above...

Yes, I understand your point on the cost. Keep in mind though that this is not a spiritual healing alternative. This is a specified diet. The patients are kept on premise and fed organic food grown on site as well as other 'procedures'. Also keep in mind that the 'diet' is widely available from sources online and can be pieced together on ones own. So it's not necessary to pay to stay at the clinic.

[Corwen]

Whats the diet based on, gold bars? These sorts of things are exploitative of peoples fear and desperation. Anyone who charges vulnerable people $5000 for a diet should be ashamed. Check yourself in to a five star hotel and eat every meal at the best organic restaurant in town and it still wouldn't be $5000. The last thing sick people need is to be ripped off by unscrupulous con men.

[ShadowCat]

The Gerson diet seems based on a jumble of raw food philosophy, juicing, cleansing etc. Even using 15-20 pound of the finest organic veggies, getting a massage and an coffee-enema (!) don't justify 5000 bucks a week. Ideally a diet teaches you how to eat in the long run, and if this food isn't affordable on a daily basis, it won't do you any good in the long run. If you take your 5000 bucks, go to the farmersmarket, and buy 4-6 pound a day of in season, mixed veggies, you can probably stretch the money to eat (juice) healthy most of the year. And I prefer my coffee the regular way around anyway.