Spiritual healing and depression

What is it? Spiritual healing involves such techniques as releasing blocked energy through the laying on of hands, connecting psychically with the individual and reading and working with auras. The tools used by spiritual healers vary, but generally speaking pendulums, crystals, tarot cards, semi-precious stones and aura soma bottles (clear glass bottles of crystal-clear oils, plant extracts and essences used to revitalise and rebalance the human aura). are used diagnostically.

What does it treat? Spiritual healers claim some success in the relief of back pain, sciatica, depression, stress-related disorders and emotional traumas.

A first timer's experience (50year-old mother of four): "First off, I was surprised that the healer was young and beautiful. I had expected someone broody, dark and intense. Also, she wasn't at all invasive. She began by asking me to select a bottle from a choice of coloured bottles and a stone from a group of semi-precious stones and crystals. I selected a blue bottle. Then, I selected a turquoise stone which I held in my left hand throughout the whole session. Then, she asked me to lie on the plinth and handed me a clear quartz crystal to hold in my right hand.

"She moved around my whole body, holding her hands at a distance from my body as she moved. Then, she did some laying on of hands. She held my head and then put her hands under my neck, on my knees and on my hips. I have been in a lot of pain with my neck and back in the last few weeks which I explained to her. And, when she placed her hands on my left hip, I felt a great heat (I am a sceptic about these things but I did feel heat).

Then, she asked me to turn over on to my front. Again, when, she laid her hands on the area around my lungs, I felt an intense heat. "We spoke about my family, particularly my mother who died two years ago. She said some things about my mother and I which made some sense but other things which didn't seem significant. She also used a pendulum to figure out what I am doing which is bad for my health. She then recommended I stop doing the front crawl when swimming and to do the breast stroke instead. I would be very sceptical about this sort of advice but as a regular swimmer, I will give it a go for a week or two. She also asked me to choose one of the coloured bottles and I chose gold. She said this was significant because it related to my torso where my physical pain derived. I bought one of these gold bottles to rub around my abdomen and back.

"Immediately after the two-hour session, I felt quite spaced. I did, however, feel very free physically. Also, I didn't feel pain in my neck but my back still hurt."

An advocate's view: Grainne (35) is a secretary. "I have recently come through the break-up of a six-year-long relationship. I have had to start all over again as a totally single person finding a new place to live and all that. I felt there was no light at the end of the tunnel for me.

"Going to the spiritual healer has given me back faith in myself. She has also knocked down a few barriers for me and said some things which stunned me. Since I started going to her I am a lot brighter, although I am not completely out of it yet. She has advised me to have a lavender bath at night as I am a bit of an insomniac. I also have a lavender cushion on my pillow now. Colour has become more significant for me.

"I have had my office repainted in a soothing green colour. I used to wear a lot of navy and black. Now, I wear lighter colours. The comforting thing for me now is knowing that the spiritual healer is there for me when I need her."

The medical view: Dr Muiris Houston, Irish Times Medical Correspondent says: "There is no evidence for the medical benefits of psychic therapy."

There isn't an association of spiritual healers in Ireland. The Irish Spiritual Centre, 30 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 (01- 6715106) has details of some spiritual healers working in Ireland. The cost of spiritual healing varies from £15 to £40 (half-an-hour to two hours) per session