Grandma's House

We got an e-mail from a man in Maplewood, New Jersey, who is a leukemia survivor. He's spreading the word about a woman named Wendi Friesen. She operates an internet company, which I will not link to, which sends out $29 CDs, claiming these CDs will cure leukemia and chronic illnesses. Here's a quote from her website:

"One of our best selling CDs. Designed for those with cancer, chronic or other serious illness, this program inspires you to choose LIFE, stimulates your immune system to fight, and some say ... creates miracles. Three sessions, one will access your ability to heal, the second will strengthen your immune system, another will cleanse your body of bacteria, viruses and toxins. This process can help to speed the healing of surgery, illness, or even a cold or sore throat."

This is preposterous. Listening to a CD will not cleanse your body of a virus. I don't care how good the content is. Of course, she very carefully words her website. She's very good; her words can be taken more than one way, especially by someone with no medical knowledge.

Physicians around the country refer their patients to me to help resolve the emotional issues connected with illness. When I work with a client, we resolve the emotional causes for the illness, restore the immune system to a healthy balance and speed healing of injuries or surgery.

Your subconscious mind has tremendous healing power. You already know that. Know you can learn how to use it. The stories I hear are miraculous. I have received wonderful letters from all over the world- people who have used my healing hypnotherapy CDs, find that they heal faster after surgery, release chronic pain, get rid of headaches, balance immune function- which you know affects arthritis, fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel syndrome, cancer and just about every illness we suffer from.

This does seem to imply that positive thinking (and her CD) can cure diseases. Penn & Teller debunked her "practice" recently, and here's what she had to say in reply:

OK, so the cure thing- NO, I NEVER, EVER tell anyone that I can heal or cure cancer. I work hand in hand with doctors when I have a client with cancer. Their doctor's love what I do, and are very supportive. Yes, the word cancerous cells is used on the CD, but only in the imagery with these words-
"any harmful cells, harmful bacteria, viruses or cancerous celles are swept from your body and collected in the disk of light, leaving healthy and vibrant cells.... " and so on.

I think I know where Bill Clinton learned to parse sentences now. The only good thing here is that she's advertising on Air America; how many people could she really be reaching? However, anyone who has one of the cancers she can supposedly affect should really go to a physician for help. It might cost a little more than a CD, but it will be worth it.