Theta Miracles treat cancer, asthma, ME...

Here's another bullshit healing company, Theta Miracles.

The brains of the outfit appears to be Jill Miller (pictured below).

(Image credit)

Their flyer (available here and here) is carefully worded - instead of claiming to "cure" cancer or "treat" depression, Jill mischievously says:

"The popular areas that our clients want to work with are: Health issues - including cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, hormonal [sic], back pain, low energy levels, ME, depression, addictions, weight loss..."

The wording isn't going to stop me complaining about them - again, and again, and again, if necessary. ASA complaint follows.

"I write to complain about a flyer I picked up at the "Mind, Body & Spirit" festival, in London, in May this year.

The flyer, for www.thetamiracles.co.uk, promotes "Theta Healing".

I suspect that the flyer may be in breach of four sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code. I can provide the original flyer by post, if necessary.

1. "Theta Healing" is a proprietary form of hands-on healing developed in America by Vianna Stibal in the 1990s[1].

2. (i) I have been unable to find any clinical evidence for the efficacy of "Theta Healing" on the PubMed website or elsewhere.

(ii) Some evidence exists for the efficacy of hands-on healing therapies in general. For example, a 2003 Cochrane Review, "Therapeutic touch for healing acute wounds", stated:

"REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence that [Therapeutic Touch] promotes healing of acute wounds." [2]

3. Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove the following claims, and I challenge whether the claims are backed by evidence, where appropriate consisting of trials conducted on people:

(i) "You can create miracle healing in your life with the system of Theta Healing"
(ii) With Theta Healing, "miracle healing and changes can and do happen"
(iii) Theta Healing "can" help with "cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, hormonal back pain, low energy levels, ME, depression, addictions, weight loss"
(iv) Theta Healing "can" help with "bereavment...abuse, fears and phobias"
(v) Theta Healing "can" help with "Lack of money..."

4. (i) In the "Learning Theta Healing" section, the flyer claims that by taking the "Basic Course", people can "learn how to": "Co-create [with some kind of Deity] physical healings...", "Change genes and DNA", "Activate the Anti-aging gene" and "Activate all DNA strands".

(ii) Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove that trained Theta Healers can perform any of these feats, and I challenge whether the claims are backed by evidence, where appropriate consisting of trials conducted on people.

(iii) Under Section 6.1, I challenge whether the flyer "exploit[s] the credulity, lack of knowledge or inexperience of consumers" by suggesting that trained Theta Healers can perform any of these feats.

(iv) Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the flyer misleadingly implies that trained Theta Healers are capable of performing any of these feats.

5. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the alternative medicine industry in general. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.

Footnotes:
[1] http://www.thetahealing.com/about-thetahealing/thetahealing-origin.html
[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14583953
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