Magnetic healing and animal magnetism as therapy

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · Franz Anton Mesmer · 1770 · Paris

What it is

Magnetic healing is a discredited therapy, written for history and safety. It is not a recommended treatment and this guide does not teach it.

Format

• Paris, 1770s-1780s: animal magnetism. Mesmer's public group treatments drew crowds; in 1784 the King appointed commissioners from the Faculty of Medicine and the Académie des sciences. Their blind and sham tests showed that subjects responded when they believed they were being magnetised and did…
• The secret report (1784). A second report, also signed on 11 August and meant only for the King, warned that magnetic treatment threatened morals as well as health, especially for women, describing the physical contact between magnetisers and patients and implying that some sessions might be…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional magnetic healers, 1880s-1900s. Magnetic healers practised without licences in the Midwest; D. D. Palmer practised as a magnetic healer in Davenport, Iowa, for about nine years (his own 1904 account) before announcing chiropractic, with the founding date usually given as September 1895, a date some researchers question; his newsletter of January 1896 was titled The Magnetic Cure. An 1886 Iowa law…
• Today: magnet products and "biomagnetism". Static magnets in bracelets, insoles and wraps, copper bracelets, "biomagnetism" kits and pulsed electromagnetic field devices are marketed for pain and many other conditions (see Domain XII 083-084). US regulators have acted against unsupported claims: a 1999 FTC consent order against a magnetic-therapy company that had advertised its products for cancer, HIV, multiple…
• Repair and follow-up: shame about money spent, conflict with family, grief over delayed treatment, consumer complaints and reporting.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Static magnets for pain: a 2007 CMAJ systematic review and meta-analysis pooled nine placebo-controlled trials and found no significant difference from placebo; the authors concluded that static magnets cannot be recommended for pain, with osteoarthritis meriting further study.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• consent and confidentiality limits. Working when the care team shares one picture.
• delay while you seek certainty; consult early. Working when the child is receiving medical care.
• the client planning to treat others' serious illness; heavy debt for courses. Working when the decision is informed.
• escalation into rupture between family members; carer burnout. Working when the client has a plan they can live with.
• retaliation; record your concerns and seek supervision or legal advice. Working when claims stop or the issue is formally reviewed.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.