Psychic healers are people who claim to heal the sick or wounded through spiritual or psychic energy, rather than through standard medical practices. These individuals usually do not use medical tools or medication, but rather use their minds and bodies to heal others through manipulation of energy or other similar methods. There are also psychic surgeons who claim to heal by removing the source of a person’s sickness without the use of surgical tools or other equipment. Psychic healers are often criticized by mainstream medical professionals who claim they provide sick people with false hope and may delay necessary treatment.
While there are many different types of psychic healers, the most common are those who use energy or similar forces to heal. Those who use energy, light, or other psychic methods to heal often practice a particular discipline, such as Reiki healing. These traditions are often rooted in spirituality or religious beliefs, and many of them have practices that may be hundreds or even thousands of years old. There are also psychic healers who are closely tied to particular religions, such as Christian faith healers, who call on a belief in God, Christ or another deity to heal the sick or injured.
Psychic surgeons are psychic healers who go beyond the tradition of merely using energy or light to heal, and instead claim to physically remove the source of a person’s illness. This is done without surgical tools, and can often appear quite disturbing, as the psychic surgeon seems to push his or her hand into the body of a person and remove a tumor or other source of illness. These types of psychic healers have repeatedly come under attack by skeptics who claim they merely use sleight of hand, in conjunction with hidden bags of chicken blood and parts, to perform their healing.
Skeptics and some medical professionals criticize psychic healers for a number of reasons. Since these healers often charge money for their services, some people claim they are taking advantage of the sick and desperate. Many medical professionals also protest the services of these healers, as they may not be effective, and someone receiving the services of psychic healers may be putting off medical treatment that could otherwise help him or her. There are cases, however, in which such healers appear to effectively battle otherwise incurable diseases, though the nature of such healing makes it difficult to precisely identify the psychic efforts as the cause of the healing.