Who is Jayney Goddard?

Professor Jayney Goddard, President of the Complementary Medical Association (CMA), has recently decided to up the ante, in a bid to defend homoeopaths from attacks by supporters of orthodox medicine, as well as by Sense about Science www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/project/108.

Ms Goddard was recently appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine http://www.rsm.ac.uk/ and has been awarded a professorship by Mahendra Sanskrit University in Nepal http://www.msu.edu.np/

She has two qualifications in complementary medicine - a diploma in hypnotherapy and is a Licentiate of the London College of Classical Homeopathy. Oddly for a practitioner of homoeopathy, and especially someone who heads up a complementary medical association, Ms Goddard does not appear to be a member of any of the major registering bodies in homoeopathy, such as the Society of Homoeopaths, the Alliance of Registered Homoeopaths or the Homeopathic Medical Assocation. She is registered on the CMA website which does not give any details of her practice/s.

Ms Goddard’s biography as an expert on the Discovery Channel Home & Health website claims that she is an alumni of Imperial College, where she studied homoeopathy. Her biographyfor the November 2006 CAM Expo in Los Angeles also indicates that she studied homoeopathy at Imperial College but gives a time period for the studies of 5 years. These claims are confusing given that Imperial College does not appear to have, at least in recent history, operated any courses on the subject.

Quoting directly from the CMA website www.the-cma.org.uk/default.aspx?id=3983 “Jayney Goddard is President of the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) which is the world's largest professional membership body for complementary medicine (CM), and she is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on complementary medicine. She was recently awarded the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Expo Award for Outstanding Contribution to Complementary Medicine. She has a busy practice in Greenwich where she works as a homeopath, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist.”

Since it is not always easy to verify the size of professional bodies, any claim to be the largest has to be seen as a bit brazen, given the size and longevity of associations in such countries as the United States and India.

Of course, in taking any battle to the fore, it’s not just about the nature of qualifications or how someone presents themselves. It’s also down to a person’s zest, sphere of influence, determination and staying power. She does seem to have plenty of these qualities and a desire to help protect homoeopathy and other forms of complementary medicine.

Jayney Goddard’s November appeal to practitioners

Ms Goddard issued an appeal to homoeopaths and other practitioners of complementary medicine around 1 November 2006. Many of us received it by email, often several times, while others saw it as a letter published on the newly established AltMedZine.

Click here to read Ms Goddard’s appeal on AltMedZine.

Her appeal is titled “We support evidence based medicine”, which seems a little at odds with her own criticism of Sense About Science, one of the key protagonists of evidence-based medicine. It is however more in line with the Royal Society of Medicine, the hallowed institution which has recently taken in Ms Goddard as its fellow.

The appeal ends saying: “The Complementary Medical Association is offering to facilitate a round table for all who are interested in seeing what we can do - together to unite and protect our industry.”

Ms. Goddard has recommended using the Bohmian Dialogue to one email discussion group:

Bohm Dialogue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohm_Dialogue (often referred to simply as Dialogue by its proponents) is conducted in groups of 10 to 40 people, who sit in a single circle, for a few hours during regular meetings or for a few days in a workshop environment. Participants "suspend" their thoughts, motives, impulses and judgements – exploring and attempting to "think together" collectively. According to the proposal, Bohm Dialogue should not be confused with discussion, lecture, discourse or debate, which, says Bohm, all suggest working towards a goal rather than simply exploring. Meeting without an objective or agenda is done to create a "free space" for something new to happen.

Many people have compared this to the Delphi Technique www.eagleforum.org/educate/1998/nov98/focus.html which seems likely to have been adopted at the meetings that many homeopaths attended at various Thistle hotels around the UK to 'discuss' the future of homeopathy.

Will this be an opportunity to clarify some of the current confusion which has done nothing to assist the development and growth of complementary and alternative medicine?

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