Got a request about him since he's still at it. His "institute" is basically him and one other person with their website.
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http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2014/03/938-lewis-mehl-madrona.htmlLewis E. Mehl-Madrona is the author of the Coyote trilogy, which discusses healing practices from Lakota, Cherokee and Cree traditions, and how they intersect with conventional medicine (“via a social constructionist model”), and a champion of all things woo that can be justified by drawing connections to what Mehl-Madrona fancies to be ancient wisdom and mystical traditions of indigenous people, regardless of whether it works or actually belongs to actual traditional practices. Instead of even trying to provide evidence he appeals to post-modernist relativism. Indeed, he has even collaborated with Larry Dossey, so it is not such a stretch to suspect that he view peer-review as another oppressive system that requires accountability and therefore takes away his opportunity to justify his beliefs by vivid imagination. It’s just so much easier and less oppressive when all claims are equally trues and no one can be held accountable for anything.
Mehl-Madrona is indeed an MD, but so is Andrew Weil – and Weil is indeed a fan of Mehl-Madrona’s work, saying in relation to his work that “[g]ood doctoring requires all the wisdom of religion, all the techniques of magic, and all the knowledge of small-m medicine to be most effective,” which is false, but sounds very tolerant (in the sense of staunchly refusing to denounce bullshit).
In fact, for Mehl-Madrona the combination of the heritage and experience of a Native American healer with conventional medicine is not just a matter of pomo relativism; Mehl-Madrona actually seeks to replace the “reigning biomedical model with a new paradigm,” and claims that Coyote Medicine must be “taught in medical schools, practiced in clinics, and brought to all those who seek true health” (i.e. we must return to that golden age before modern medicine). His “research” includes work on various psychological conditions, issues of psychology during birthing, nutritional approaches (see this) to autism and diabetes, and the use of healing circles to improve overall health outcomes, techniques that are staple fare at Quackwatch, and for good reasons.
What about evidence? Well, Mehl-Madrona has seen things with his own eyes – he once had an American Indian spirit called White Buffalo Calf Woman heal a prostate cancer patient by rearranging “electrical patterns” in the man's brain during a sweat lodge ceremony, a prayer and purification ritual that he has performed several times for his patients (it “symbolizes a return to the womb of mother earth from which all life begins,” says Mehl-Madrona). The anecdote was not written up as a case study for peer-reviewed publication.
Since altmed is rather popular these days and Mehl-Madrona has a real degree, he has managed to get himself affiliated with plenty of otherwise serious institutions, where he treat patients with acupuncture, hypnosis, relaxation therapies, questionable massage therapies, talk therapy and EMDR, a technique in which patients use eye movement and other exercises to reprocess information stored in the nervous system. To the claim that his techniques have no scientific support, Mehl-Madrona says that “I think the danger in alternative medicine is that we confuse the effectiveness of a treatment with the effectiveness of mind-body healing.” Right. The sweat lodge ceremonies, though, ultimately got him pressured out of the University of Pittsburgh health system, at least (more here). At Stanford he was involved in research projects (called “pseudoscience” by colleagues), but refused to follow the book. (“Some of his colleagues thought that his approaches even to research were not very rigorous”).
He is currently adjunct professor of anthropology at Johnson State College in Vermont and writes a regular column for Futurehealth.org, in which he contributes his insights on alternative ways of seeing mental illness.
He has recently come under rather heavy fire from people with native American background for being a New-age therapist and “fraud” (whose claimed native background is itself questionable) who is “selling fake NDN ceremonies,” suggesting that there is some justice in the world after all.
Diagnosis: Total bullshitter who has managed to master the standard pomo gambits well enough to land him quite a bit of influence. Extremely dangerous.
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His claims of Native healing are still almost entirely sold to non Natives.
https://www.mehl-madrona.com/upcoming-events4th International Conference on Healing Childhood Trauma in Melbourne, Australia
Sun, May 30, 20213:00 PM Fri, Jun 4, 20214:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Lewis with be teaching with Gabor Mate, MD, at the Hollyhock Conference Center, in Vancouver, B.C.
MAR
14
TO MAR 16
Lewis with be teaching with Gabor Mate, MD, at the Hollyhock Conference Center, in Vancouver, B.C.
Sun, Mar 14, 20213:00 PM Tue, Mar 16, 20214:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Seminars in New Zealand
MAR
1
TO MAR 7
Seminars in New Zealand
Mon, Mar 1, 20213:00 PM Sun, Mar 7, 20214:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Reading the Body at Rowe Conference Center, Rowe, Massachusetts.
FEB
2
Reading the Body at Rowe Conference Center, Rowe, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
3:30 PM 4:30 PMVIEW EVENT ?
Two-Eyed Counseling: Bringing indigenous approaches to improving social and emotional well-being.
JAN
30
TO JAN 31
Two-Eyed Counseling: Bringing indigenous approaches to improving social and emotional well-being.
Sat, Jan 30, 202110:00 AM Sun, Jan 31, 20216:00 PM
New York Open Center (map)
VIEW EVENT ?
Annual conference of The Qualitative Review, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
JAN
12
TO JAN 16
Annual conference of The Qualitative Review, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Tue, Jan 12, 20213:00 PM Sat, Jan 16, 20214:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Lewis and Barbara will be teaching in Kodiak, Alaska in conjunction with the University of Alaska Anchorage
DEC
4
TO DEC 8
Lewis and Barbara will be teaching in Kodiak, Alaska in conjunction with the University of Alaska Anchorage
Fri, Dec 4, 20203:00 PM Tue, Dec 8, 20204:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
North American Indigenous Healing workshop, outside London, United Kingdom
NOV
27
TO NOV 28
North American Indigenous Healing workshop, outside London, United Kingdom
Fri, Nov 27, 20203:00 PM Sat, Nov 28, 20204:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Intensive Immersion Experience in indigenous healing concepts and practices
OCT
25
TO OCT 31
Intensive Immersion Experience in indigenous healing concepts and practices
Sun, Oct 25, 20203:00 PM Sat, Oct 31, 20204:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Stories and Healing, Intensive Immersion Experience in Sourbain, France
SEP
20
TO SEP 26
Stories and Healing, Intensive Immersion Experience in Sourbain, France
Sun, Sep 20, 20203:00 PM Sat, Sep 26, 20204:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Narrative Hypnosis in Paris, France
SEP
12
TO SEP 16
Narrative Hypnosis in Paris, France
Sat, Sep 12, 20203:00 PM Wed, Sep 16, 20204:00 PM
VIEW EVENT ?
Cherokee Body Work at Shamanic Fire Reiki in New York City
AUG
15
Cherokee Body Work at Shamanic Fire Reiki in New York City
Saturday, August 15, 2020
1:00 PM 5:30 PMVIEW EVENT ?
A Special Women's Circle: Woman in Action with Barbara Mainguy
AUG
14
A Special Women's Circle: Woman in Action with Barbara Mainguy
Friday, August 14, 2020
4:00 PM 6:00 PMVIEW EVENT ?
European Psychiatric Association, Madrid, Spain
JUL
5
European Psychiatric Association, Madrid, Spain
Sunday, July 5, 2020
9:00 AM 4:00 PMVIEW EVENT ?
