ICSA TODAY 32 32
Correspondents
,
Reports
family maintains that she has been
manipulated.
The president of the Instituto de
Capacitación y Actualización Forense
de México (Institute of Training and
Forensic Update of Mexico, ICAF), José
Pilar Corral, has stated that those who
enter websites for esoteric practices
or witchcraft make themselves
vulnerable to these delinquent groups
because the websites save cookies and
personal data, which they later send to
databases that can use the information
for extortion and fraud. Additionally,
individuals may be psychologically
manipulated to join these groups.
New Era and Pseudotherapies
The Grupo Español de Pacientes con
Cáncer (Group of Patients With Cancer,
GEPAC) has warned of an increase in
pseudotherapies that claim to cure
cancers all by themselves, without
any scientific evidence whatsoever
some of these groups promise miracle
cures and consequently have taken
the lives of many who have followed
them. GEPAC explains that such groups
recruit through the Internet and
meetings, and in doing so act like “real
cults.”
At their last general meeting in
December, 2016, members of
the Organización Médica Colegial
(Medical Colleges Organization,
OMC), which embraces all Spanish
professional medical groups, expressed
their concern at the avalanche
of pseudotherapies, especially in
oncology, saying, “This is the area
where pseudosciences, gadgets, and
false therapies (some called medicines),
miracle techniques, undue influence
(Sp., Intrusismo), and even cults (also
in the areas of public health), exercise
their main influence.” For this reason,
OMC is compiling an updated report of
the current situation.
In December 2016, the Guardia
Civil police in Yecla, Murcia, Spain,
investigated two people for the
assumed crime of professional undue
influence after they were found
practicing acupuncture without proper
training and the required certificate.
The two who were accused worked at
a holistic health center, of which there
are many in Spain.
The president of the Real Sociedad
Española de Física (Royal Spanish
Society of Physics, RSEF), José Adolfo
de Azcárraga, has published an
article in the Revista Española de Física
(Spanish Journal of Physics), in which
he explains that pseudosciences
“benefit royally thanks to human
credulity… and [the] money-making
factor,” in addition to the element of
free will. “The difficulty in the fight
against such cults and false therapies”
is found precisely in the fact that “in
these groups, the judicial sentencing
is usually based on undue influence
rather than on fraud. Therefore, the
problem of pseudosciences presents
many facets and no easy solution.”
Specifically, Azcárraga criticizes
“quantum therapies” and points to
the scientific terminology that is used,
“which is out of place and masks the
actual fraud.”
While the forest fires burned in Chile
in January, the neoshamanistic
group Divino Maestro (Divine Master)
appeared in the media because the
mothers of two followers reported
that their sons had participated in a
spiritual retreat that was taking place
in the areas of the fires. The police
tried to intervene and evacuate the
group, but the participants rejected
any assistance. The leader had told his
followers not to worry about the fires
because they would all “transcend.” In
the end, nothing happened.
As in other EU countries, the continued
use of ayahuasca (a hallucinogenic
drink that originated in the Amazon
junble) in Spain is spreading. It is being
used in both rituals and psychotherapy.
Although the police cannot control the
use of this substance because of the
lack of judicial action, some experts
and affected people want the public to
know of its risks. In January, a Catholic
parish in Victoria, Spain cancelled a
conference it was hosting when the
parish leaders learned the conference
was promoting ayahuasca.
Enric Corbera is a Spanish psychologist
and leader of the Enric Corbera
Institute, Bioneuroemoción. His
lawyers are trying to silence the
criticism against this sectarian
pseudotherapy group. One example
of such criticism is a certified letter
received by the Instituto Superior
de Estudios Psicológicos (Institute
of Psychological Studies, ISEP), a
private entity based in Barcelona
and dedicated to the instruction
of psychologists. The letter was
attempting to force them to retract
an article written by Carlos Sanz.
which criticized Bioneuroemoción.
Bioneuroemoción also has been the
focus of other news. For example,
the University of Zaragoza in January
cancelled a conference with Enric
Corbera that had been organized by
the Student Delegates group.
On February 13, several Spanish
groups organized a campaign via
Twitter called #StopPseudociencias
(#StopPseudociences). The groups
received more than 12,000 tweets
asking the Ministry of Health to take
action “against the large quantity
of movements postulated by
pseudoscientific therapies and the
growing danger they present to our
health.” This was the trending topic in
Spain for most of a whole day. n
Correspondents
,
Reports
family maintains that she has been
manipulated.
The president of the Instituto de
Capacitación y Actualización Forense
de México (Institute of Training and
Forensic Update of Mexico, ICAF), José
Pilar Corral, has stated that those who
enter websites for esoteric practices
or witchcraft make themselves
vulnerable to these delinquent groups
because the websites save cookies and
personal data, which they later send to
databases that can use the information
for extortion and fraud. Additionally,
individuals may be psychologically
manipulated to join these groups.
New Era and Pseudotherapies
The Grupo Español de Pacientes con
Cáncer (Group of Patients With Cancer,
GEPAC) has warned of an increase in
pseudotherapies that claim to cure
cancers all by themselves, without
any scientific evidence whatsoever
some of these groups promise miracle
cures and consequently have taken
the lives of many who have followed
them. GEPAC explains that such groups
recruit through the Internet and
meetings, and in doing so act like “real
cults.”
At their last general meeting in
December, 2016, members of
the Organización Médica Colegial
(Medical Colleges Organization,
OMC), which embraces all Spanish
professional medical groups, expressed
their concern at the avalanche
of pseudotherapies, especially in
oncology, saying, “This is the area
where pseudosciences, gadgets, and
false therapies (some called medicines),
miracle techniques, undue influence
(Sp., Intrusismo), and even cults (also
in the areas of public health), exercise
their main influence.” For this reason,
OMC is compiling an updated report of
the current situation.
In December 2016, the Guardia
Civil police in Yecla, Murcia, Spain,
investigated two people for the
assumed crime of professional undue
influence after they were found
practicing acupuncture without proper
training and the required certificate.
The two who were accused worked at
a holistic health center, of which there
are many in Spain.
The president of the Real Sociedad
Española de Física (Royal Spanish
Society of Physics, RSEF), José Adolfo
de Azcárraga, has published an
article in the Revista Española de Física
(Spanish Journal of Physics), in which
he explains that pseudosciences
“benefit royally thanks to human
credulity… and [the] money-making
factor,” in addition to the element of
free will. “The difficulty in the fight
against such cults and false therapies”
is found precisely in the fact that “in
these groups, the judicial sentencing
is usually based on undue influence
rather than on fraud. Therefore, the
problem of pseudosciences presents
many facets and no easy solution.”
Specifically, Azcárraga criticizes
“quantum therapies” and points to
the scientific terminology that is used,
“which is out of place and masks the
actual fraud.”
While the forest fires burned in Chile
in January, the neoshamanistic
group Divino Maestro (Divine Master)
appeared in the media because the
mothers of two followers reported
that their sons had participated in a
spiritual retreat that was taking place
in the areas of the fires. The police
tried to intervene and evacuate the
group, but the participants rejected
any assistance. The leader had told his
followers not to worry about the fires
because they would all “transcend.” In
the end, nothing happened.
As in other EU countries, the continued
use of ayahuasca (a hallucinogenic
drink that originated in the Amazon
junble) in Spain is spreading. It is being
used in both rituals and psychotherapy.
Although the police cannot control the
use of this substance because of the
lack of judicial action, some experts
and affected people want the public to
know of its risks. In January, a Catholic
parish in Victoria, Spain cancelled a
conference it was hosting when the
parish leaders learned the conference
was promoting ayahuasca.
Enric Corbera is a Spanish psychologist
and leader of the Enric Corbera
Institute, Bioneuroemoción. His
lawyers are trying to silence the
criticism against this sectarian
pseudotherapy group. One example
of such criticism is a certified letter
received by the Instituto Superior
de Estudios Psicológicos (Institute
of Psychological Studies, ISEP), a
private entity based in Barcelona
and dedicated to the instruction
of psychologists. The letter was
attempting to force them to retract
an article written by Carlos Sanz.
which criticized Bioneuroemoción.
Bioneuroemoción also has been the
focus of other news. For example,
the University of Zaragoza in January
cancelled a conference with Enric
Corbera that had been organized by
the Student Delegates group.
On February 13, several Spanish
groups organized a campaign via
Twitter called #StopPseudociencias
(#StopPseudociences). The groups
received more than 12,000 tweets
asking the Ministry of Health to take
action “against the large quantity
of movements postulated by
pseudoscientific therapies and the
growing danger they present to our
health.” This was the trending topic in
Spain for most of a whole day. n
