The wellness industry is currently valued at over $5.6 trillion dollars globally. A sizeable portion of the industry consists of alternative medicine products and services. But is the wellness industry really healing what ails us? Why do people turn to alternative medicine? What is the nature of mental-health related pseudoscience and misinformation? In this presentation, Dr. Jonathan N. Stea will shine a light on how mental health-related pseudoscience and misinformation have infiltrated popular culture, social media, and our healthcare systems themselves. For anyone who has had patients, clients or family members who have been touched by mental illness in any way, please join him for “Mind the Science: Saving your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry.” Dr. Stea will discuss the history and harm of the anti-psychiatry movement, and he’ll pull back the curtain on the history of the wellness industry and the devastating consequences of allowing pseudoscience promoters to target the vulnerable in our society. Finally, he’ll talk about making better informed decisions with a view toward improved science and mental health literacy.
Dr. Jonathan N. Stea is a full-time practicing clinical psychologist and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. He’s a two-time winner of the University of Calgary’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Supervision and co-editor of the book Investigating Clinical Psychology: Pseudoscience, Fringe Science, and Controversies. Dr. Stea has published extensively as a science communicator, with regular contributions to Scientific American and Psychology Today, among other outlets, and has appeared on numerous mainstream television and radio shows, as well as podcasts. He was the 2022 recipient of the John G. Paterson Award from the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta, an annual award presented for the exceptional contribution to portraying psychological knowledge to the public.
His new book, MIND THE SCIENCE: SAVING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH FROM THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY, received the 2024 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award. It aims to educate and embolden those who wish to make informed decisions about their mental health, to improve science and mental health literacy, and to pull back the curtain on the devastating consequences of allowing pseudoscience promoters to target the vulnerable within our society. It’s a must-have for readers of popular science who are curious to understand what mental health really means, or who have been touched by mental illness in some way. It provides readers with a science-backed takedown of pseudoscience, as well as an understanding of its evolution, seduction, and solution. In part, this involves exposing the mental health misinformation that pervades healthcare, pop culture, social media, and the wellness industry.
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