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Evaluating distant healing: a research review
1Complementary Medicine Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, USA.
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
|February 12, 1998
Summary
Distant healing, involving mental effort to improve another's well-being, shows experimental evidence but requires more research to confirm clinical impact beyond psychological effects. Methodological improvements are key to studying genuine distant healing.
Area of Science:
- Integrative and Complementary Medicine
- Parapsychology
- Mind-Body Medicine
Background:
- Distant healing encompasses intentional mental efforts to benefit another's physical or emotional health.
- Practices like prayer and psychic healing are globally prevalent.
- Existing research includes numerous controlled trials on distant mental effects across biological systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review compelling evidence for genuine distant healing effects.
- To identify methodological limitations in current research.
- To guide future research in distinguishing true distant effects from psychological influences.
Main Methods:
- Review of well-controlled experimental trials on distant healing.
- Analysis of studies demonstrating effects on humans, animals, and biological systems.
- Examination of research methodologies to identify confounding factors.
Main Results:
- Numerous experimental trials suggest distant mental effects exist.
- Insufficient formal research definitively proves clinical impact independent of psychological factors.
- Methodological issues like expectation and relaxation often confound results.
Conclusions:
- Compelling evidence supports the existence of distant healing effects.
- Further rigorous research is needed to isolate genuine distant healing from psychological influences.
- Addressing methodological flaws is crucial for advancing the scientific understanding of distant healing.