001. Órla Ryan reports in "One Suicide Within Prison is Too Many" (2014-06-19) [my comments are in unquoted bold]:
"the government been asked to support the introduction of a suicide prevention program in Irish prisons [...] Maureen Mulligan, the Director of the Irish Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, discussed the issue [...] participants were supported through counseling, natural medicine, anger management, and nutritional and fitness advice";
so, I'm curious. Let's look at the IINM. I'm particularly interested in what "natural medicine" is. And of course, I'm all for legitimate therapeutics that help with this issue. But I'm not all for journalism that doesn't go too deeply into what "natural medicine" is all about.
002. IINM:
002.a there's the Vimeo video "Irish Institute of Naturopathic Medicine" [vsc 2014-06-19], which must be watched at the source web page,
.
which states:
"[from the description] Maureen Mulligan of the Irish Institute of Naturopathic Medicine , based in Wicklow, talks about the work of the Institute and her aims for the future [...from the video] the treatment procedure is based on cranial alignment [...] the flow of the fluid through the brain and the spine [...] a neurological approach [...] there's no manipulation, there's no use of force [...] and we're working at the level of cellular intelligence [...] from a natural medicine perspective [...] integrated natural medicine [...including] detox [...and] and the naturopathic medicine of cranial alignment which we've pioneered at the IINM [...] we're getting extraordinary results";
ah, craniosacral therapy, that great hoax of someone holding your head in their hands and telling you they are changing your body for the better. And if you are not 'in the know', at Wikipedia.org we're told "CST has been characterized as pseudoscience and its practice has been called quackery". Of course, this is naturopathy! Extraordinary natural medicine modalities with extraordinary [cough-cough] results!
002.b. various pages at iinm.ie:
002.b.1. in "Meet the Team" [archived here] we're told:
"Maureen Mulligan [...whose credentials are] F.I.C.N.M [which is] Fellow of the Institute of Complementary and Natural Medicine UK [...]"'
I see "integrative" hasn't yet occurred as a rebranding!
"finalist in the award for the foundation of Integrated Medicine in 1998, UK [...]";
ah, there's the integrated. Not integrative, but integrated as 'done already'!
"[who] pioneered and developed the Ictp natural medicine regime for the treatment of violence and addiction in UK prisons [...]";
I can't find much on by way of the web regarding ICTP, and I don't think it's the "International Center of Theoretical Physics."
"natural medical volunteer practitioners are drawn from acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and other natural medicine modalities."
so, obviously, "natural medicine" includes homeopathy and acupuncture [quackupuncture!].
002.b.2. in "About Us: What is Naturopathic Medicine?" (archived here) were told:
"naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a system of medicine based on the healing power of nature [...] the naturopathic philosophy is to stimulate the healing power of the body [...] supporting the body’s own healing abilities [...]";
ah, ye old coded vitalism.
"it is a holistic system that strives to find the cause of disease by understanding the body, mind and spirit of the person [...]";
there's nothing like categorizing the supernatural and science-ejected coded vitalistic as "natural". And is spirit "understood"? Really? Isn't spirit instead an article of faith? I'm all for freedom of belief, by the way, but is the supernatural a medical issue at all? Isn't modern medicine an applied science and the supernatural is science-exterior? But, of course, "holistic" gets a free pass in terms of analysis, as "natural" does. They are thought-stopping empty labels. You might as well be saying WIDGETS: a placeholder for actual information.
"at IINM, we use a variety of naturopathic therapies and techniques including acupuncture [...] to improve the flow of life around the body [...]";
now, usually, it's "life energy" or "chi". Here, like the coded vitalism of HPN, we're not deserving enough to be told the details to then be able to make an informed choice.
"cranial structural alignment: the effect of birth injury has lasting and significant consequences for natural growth, development of language and behavioral patterns. This treatment stimulates healing by using gentle hand pressure to manipulate the skeleton and connective tissues [of a neonate, I assume...and] cranial osteopathy is a refined and subtle treatment that encourages the release of stresses and tensions throughout the body, including the head.
It works to restore the structure and function of the body to a state of balance and harmony, so helping the whole person [...]";
yeah, right.
"homeopathy [...] a system of medicine that involves treating the individual with highly diluted substances derived from plants, minerals and some metals. It is given mainly in tablet form, with the aim of triggering the body’s natural system of healing [...]";
yeah, empty pills. The stuff I refused to do in ND school because it is the most unethical stuff I've ever seen.
002.b.3. what I don't find:
the language "medicatrix", "scientific", "science-based", "life force", "vital force".
