The Healing Trust's Magical Fingers

Here are two ASA complaints about the Healing Trust - officially the NFSH Charitable Trust Ltd - a registered charity that promote some kind of magical finger therapy.

(Image credit - scan of the first flyer)

For those of you who can't find the time to read the full text of my missives, here's the general thrust of their arguments:

• Hands-on healing can cure all sorts of medical problems - sort of!
• Hands-on healing is supported by oodles of scientific evidence - more or less!
• Hands-on healing is becoming part of mainstream medicine - probably!
• Hands-on healing is officially recognised by the NHS - only kidding, LOL!
• Anyone can be a Hands-on Healer - oh, and by the way, we're now offering courses in it!

ASA complaints follow!

Flyer #1 (available here and here) and insert (available here and here)

"I write to complain about a leaflet I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.

The leaflet, for The Healing Trust, promotes hands-on healing.

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

1. The Healing Trust, aka the NFSH Charitable Trust Ltd, is a registered charity.

2. The leaflet is titled "What is Spiritual Healing?", and its insert is titled "Healer Membership for Nurses and Medical Professionals".

3. The leaflet itself describes the "healing" technique thus:

"WHAT HAPPENS DURING A HEALING SESSION? Healers work with their hands at a short distance from your body, or sometimes with a light touch... WHAT CAN HEALING DO FOR ME? Healing can be helpful with a wide range of conditions, sometimes to a remarkable degree..."

4. The insert promotes a course for "Nurses and Medical Professionals":

"Healing is a form of complementary therapy which transfers natural universal energy, through the practitioner to the recipient. With a body of scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness, healing not only makes a positive difference to people's experience of illness, but also in dealing with the challenges of life in general... Increasing numbers of our Healer Members are working in GP surgeries, hospital wards, hospices and cancer centres, with medical staff themselves increasingly recognizing [sic] the benefits that healing training can bring, to both work and personal life contexts. Some healers hold remunerated positions within the NHS."

5. I have been unable to identify a single rigorous clinical trial that attests to the efficacy of any form of hands-on healing.

6. Therefore, under Section 12.1 I challenge whether the following claims can be substantiated, and under Section 3.1 I challenge whether they are misleading:

(i) "[Hands-on] Healing can be helpful with a wide range of conditions, sometimes to a remarkable degree..."
(ii) "[Hands-on] Healing... transfers natural universal energy, through the practitioner to the recipient."
(iii) There is a "body of scientific evidence supporting" the "effectiveness" of hands-on healing.

7. Under Section 3.1, I challenge whether the claims that hands-on healing enjoys widespread acceptance in mainstream medicine (namely "GP surgeries, hospital wards, hospices and cancer centres") is misleading.

8. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser."

Flyer #2 (available here and here)

"I write to complain about a leaflet I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.

The leaflet, for The Healing Trust, promotes hands-on healing, for which it makes a number of specific health claims (such as rapid healing of broken bones).

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

1. The Healing Trust, aka the NFSH Charitable Trust Ltd, is a registered charity.

2. The leaflet itself describes the "healing" technique thus:

"WHAT HAPPENS DURING A HEALING SESSION? Healers begin each session with their hands on the recipient's shoulders for a few moments, which enables them to attune to the energetic process. Healers then work with hands at a short distance from the body, or sometimes... by light touch..."

3. The leaflet continues:

"ARE PEOPLE JUST IMAGINING THAT HEALING WORKS? It has been suggested many times that the positive effects of healing can simply be attributed to what is generally referred to as the 'Placebo Effect' - because someone believes that they'll get better, then they do.

"Positive attitudes are of course essential for any level of recovery, but there does seem to be more at work than this. People can often experience profound emotional, spiritual and physical benefits regardless of their expectations or belief in the treatment.

"There have been a number of random [sic] controlled scientific trials with plants and seedlings, where healing energy has been shown to produce marked improvement in growth rates. Results of this sort can clearly not be attributed to the Placebo Effect..."

4. The leaflet does not identify any of the "random [sic] controlled scientific trials" the advertisers claim demonstrate the efficacy of hands-on healing.

5. Therefore, under Section 12.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the claims I quote in paragraph 3 by identifying the rigorous clinical trials that show hands-on healing produces health benefits in humans and plants that cannot be attributed to placebo.

6. (i) The leaflet continues:

"The NHS officially recognises a number of complementary therapies including [hands-on] Healing."

(ii) The UK body which "recognises" health treatments was, at the time I picked up the leaflet, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - and not the National Health Service.

(iii) After a search of NICE's website (www.nice.org.uk), I could find no evidence that NICE "recognise" any form of hands-on healing.

(iv) Therefore, under Section 3.1 I challenge whether the claim is misleading.

7. (i) The leaflet continues:

"...clinicians are increasingly recognising that [hands-on healing] can have a role to play in aiding recovery... Healing is increasingly seen as a complement to mainstream medical practice..."

(ii) Under Section 3.1, I challenge whether the advertiser's claim that hands-on healing enjoys widespread acceptance in mainstream medicine is misleading.

8. The leaflet makes a number of specific claims for hands-on healing. Under Section 12.1, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate their claims that hands-on healing can "make a significant difference" to "the speed and extent of recovery from serious illness or major surgery...wounds and broken bones can heal more quickly...post [sic] and pre-operative pain and stress are moderated...the side effects of radio and chemotherapy can be radically reduced..."

9. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser."