Beyond the False Dichotomy: When Science Meets the Sacred in Mental Health Care
Beyond the False Dichotomy: When Science Meets the Sacred in Mental Health Care
"If it doesn't hurt, it may just help" - A lesson in clinical wisdom that changed how I practice
The Moment That Shifted Everything
Early in my career, I was fortunate to train under an exceptional physician mentor who owned several radiation oncology practices in the Northeast. His waiting rooms each featured a community bulletin board where local practitioners could advertise their services. One day, I noticed a flyer for a woman offering sound healing classes, complete with singing bowls and promises of vibrational therapy.
Being a young, white-coat-wearing, scientifically-minded trainee, I couldn't resist making a salty, sarcastic comment about how perhaps this woman's sound bowls might cure someone's cancer. My mentor turned around slowly, looked at me with his characteristic even gaze, and said something that fundamentally changed how I approach patient care:
"If it doesn't hurt, it may just help."
Those eight words dismantled years of rigid thinking about what constitutes "real" medicine and opened my mind to a more nuanced understanding of healing—one that would prove invaluable in my current practice providing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy here in North Carolina.
The False War Between "Woo" and Science
In healthcare, we've created a false dichotomy between evidence-based medicine and what many dismiss as "woo"—alternative practices like crystal healing, energy work, sound therapy, and other modalities that exist outside conventional scientific frameworks. This binary thinking suggests we must choose sides: either we're rigorous scientists who only trust peer-reviewed studies, or we're New Age practitioners who reject conventional medicine.
But here's the truth that my mentor understood: crystals exist in the very same world that clinical trials do.
The selenite crystal resting on my client’s windowsill and the latest ketamine research published in Nature aren't in competition with each other. They're both part of the complex landscape of human healing, operating through different mechanisms but potentially serving complementary roles in a person's wellness journey.
Science as Foundation, Not Ceiling
Let me be absolutely clear: evidence-based medicine must provide the foundation of clinical decision-making. When I'm treating patients with ketamine therapy for treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, or anxiety disorders, every clinical decision is grounded in peer-reviewed research, established protocols, and proven safety measures.
I am acutely aware of exactly zero peer-reviewed, evidence-based scientific literature that proves selenite clears chakras, balances energy fields, or directly treats depression. The mechanism of action for crystal healing has not been demonstrated in controlled studies. Sound bowls have not been shown to cure cancer in randomized clinical trials.
But I am also very much aware of how holding a piece of selenite can profoundly ground a person who believes that it does.
The Placebo Effect Is Still an Effect - and We Should Stop Judging It
Here's where the rigid science-versus-spirituality divide falls apart: the placebo effect is a real, measurable, scientifically documented phenomenon. When someone feels calmer holding a crystal they believe has healing properties, their nervous system is actually shifting. Their cortisol levels may decrease. Their heart rate variability may improve. Their subjective sense of wellbeing increases.
The mechanism isn't the crystal itself—it's the complex interplay of belief, ritual, mindfulness, and the human capacity for self-regulation. But the outcome is genuine healing, even if the pathway differs from what we see with pharmaceutical interventions.
In my ketamine therapy practice in Chapel Hill, I've learned that dismissing these experiences (or worse, judging them) as "just placebo" misses the point entirely. If a ritual, object, or practice helps someone access calm, hope, or healing—and causes no harm—then it's serving a therapeutic function regardless of whether it appears in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Meeting Patients Where They Are
Part of being an effective provider means being curious and open to what resonates with the client sitting in front of you. Some patients find deep meaning in prayer, meditation, or spiritual practices. Others connect with nature, art, or music. Still others are drawn to crystals, tarot, astrology, or energy work. Others like what can be measured, analyzed, and dissected. All are valid.
My job isn't to validate or invalidate their belief systems—it's to understand how these practices function in their lives and how they might support or complement evidence-based treatment.
When a patient tells me they always feel more centered after their weekly sound bath, I don't lecture them about the lack of randomized controlled trials on vibrational healing. Instead, I explore how this practice supports their nervous system regulation, what it provides that our sessions might not, and how we can integrate this self-care tool into their overall treatment plan.
The Integration Advantage
This both/and approach is particularly relevant in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, where we're already working at the intersection of cutting-edge neuroscience and ancient human practices like altered states of consciousness, ritual, and meaning-making.
Ketamine therapy itself challenges traditional medical boundaries. Ketamine’s a dissociative anesthetic that, when used in sub-anesthetic doses within a therapeutic container, can rapidly treat depression, facilitate psychological insights, and promote neuroplasticity. The experience often includes mystical or spiritual elements that can't be easily quantified but are central to the healing process.
In this context, it would be hypocritical to embrace the mystery and expanded consciousness that ketamine facilitates while simultaneously dismissing other practices that operate outside conventional scientific frameworks.
Practical Integration in Clinical Practice
In my Chapel Hill, NC practice, this philosophy translates into practical approaches:
Before Sessions: If a patient mentions feeling grounded by certain items or objects,, I welcome them to bring these objects to sessions. The familiarity and personal significance can enhance their sense of safety and connection.
During Integration: When patients describe spiritual or mystical experiences during ketamine sessions, I don't pathologize these as mere hallucinations. Instead, we explore their meaning and how they might inform the person's healing journey.
Between Sessions: I encourage patients to engage with whatever practices support their wellbeing—whether that's meditation, yoga, crystals, prayer, nature connection, or conventional therapy homework.
Treatment Planning: I consider the whole person, including their spiritual and cultural practices, when developing treatment recommendations.
Boundaries and Discernment
This openness doesn't mean abandoning clinical judgment or professional boundaries. There are important distinctions to maintain:
I never recommend practices outside my scope of training. I won't suggest specific crystals for particular conditions or make claims about energy healing.That’s not where my training and expertise lies.
Safety always comes first. If someone wants to stop their psychiatric medications in favor of crystal therapy alone, we will have serious conversations about risks and benefits.
I maintain professional integrity. I can be respectful and curious about alternative practices without claiming expertise I don't possess.
Evidence guides primary interventions. While I welcome complementary practices, the core of treatment remains grounded in proven approaches.
The Wisdom of "And"
My mentor's wisdom that day went beyond tolerance for alternative practices—it was about embracing the complexity of human healing. Sometimes the most profound therapeutic shifts happen not during the ketamine session itself, but in the quiet moment when a patient holds their grandmother's rosary or arranges crystals on their nightstand in a pattern that feels meaningful.
The most effective treatment is usually the one that has the most impressive clinical trial results and —it's the one that meets people where they are and honors the full spectrum of their healing journey.
A Both/And Approach to Healing
In mental health care, we can be simultaneously committed to rigorous science and open to the mystery of human healing. We can demand evidence for our primary interventions while creating space for practices that support meaning, connection, and hope.
The patient struggling with treatment-resistant depression doesn't need us to choose between peer-reviewed ketamine protocols and their weekly crystal meditation group. They need us to skillfully integrate both in service of their healing.
This isn't about lowering standards or abandoning critical thinking—it's about expanding our understanding of what therapeutic healing encompasses. It's recognizing that the same person who benefits from precisely dosed ketamine administered according to research protocols might also find profound healing in practices that can't be easily measured or replicated in laboratory settings.
The Future of Integrated Care
As we advance in mental health treatment, the most effective providers will be those who can navigate this complexity with wisdom and discernment. We'll be scientists and healers, researchers and witnesses, evidence-based practitioners and compassionate humans who understand that healing often happens in the spaces between what we can measure and what we can feel.
In my practice serving patients throughout Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, NC, I've seen the power of this integrated approach. When we stop seeing science and spirituality as opposing forces and start seeing them as complementary aspects of human experience, we open up possibilities for healing that neither could achieve alone.
The sound bowl practitioner on my mentor's bulletin board and the ketamine researcher publishing breakthrough studies are both contributing to the vast, complex ecosystem of human healing. Our job as providers is to honor both, understand the appropriate role of each, and help our patients navigate this landscape with wisdom, hope, and evidence-informed care.
After all, if it doesn't hurt, it may just help—and in the world of mental health treatment, we need all the help we can get.
Ready to explore ketamine therapy with a provider who honors both evidence-based medicine and your individual healing journey? Contact our Chapel Hill, NC practice: sarah@cantoteampractice.com to discuss how we can support your mental health goals with scientific rigor and compassionate care.
