Is witchcraft therapy?

[@lorenachrisan]

I'm from Brazil and finding your channel was everything to me! We don't have many secular witches out here, so I feel less lonely listening to you! Lots of love 💜

[@Matheus-ki9zo]

Tem um aqui! Hehe Também amo demais o canal dela.

[@RubyRouge-zj8uw]

This video feels in line with the discoveries I've made after learning that some of the rituals I do for myself (to self-soothe or boost my well-being when combined with other healthy habits) can be considered "witchy". I appreciate your approach to the "therapy" element of witchcraft because I've received CBT/ACT treatment from psychological professionals to heal and grow from my own struggles with self-loathing, body image, and anxiety/phobia episodes.

[@chloeminagawa910]

I was just thinking today that witchcraft is therapeutic haha. Like doing a cord cutting can feel really healing.

[@arronporter3227]

Just found your content. You practice magic in the same way that I do. "Psychological" magic is pretty new to me. Growing up witchcraft was a really big part of my life, but then as I got older my view of reality changed into more of a scientific pantheist. I wanted to practice magic again and then discovered the psychological model of magic. So nice to see other people are using magic in this way too.

[@meggylee8078]

I want to add on this that there are evidence based mental health practices that are safe to administer on yourself. Think gratitude journaling for example. This can be witchified to feel magical but is very effective either way.

[@pru3230]

Thank you for another great sceptical video! I would LOVE to hear more about how glamour magic has helped you with “learning to love your meat-suit” - I struggle with not making effort because I don’t feel good about myself and this is the first time I’ve heard about how glamour magic could help with that 💜

[@McMoldys]

I think physical self-care is like mental self-care. Telling someone to go to the gym without a personal trainer is not frowned upon even though there is a higher risk of injury. Similarly, telling someone to do psychological witchcraft without a therapist shouldn’t be frowned upon even though they’re at a higher risk for mental harm. Psychological witchcraft or self-care shouldn’t and never could be a replacement for therapy. However, western medical psychotherapy doesn’t have a monopoly on healing. Religious practices like praying are more common than psychotherapy throughout the world and does help some people. These practices come with more risks due to the informal teaching of its practitioners. Many marginalized communities have had to invent there own self-care and community care practices for their own health out of desperation. I think the key here is education and mental harm reduction because people are going to try to help themselves anyway. Research the limits of psychological witchcraft, how to take care of yourself, and prevent retraumatizing oneself. Mistakes in taking care of yourself, mentally or physically, are inevitable. With or without a professional

[@balmylagoon]

Aw yisss merch. Healthcare in the US is ridiculous. I completely agree with the need for caution when doing self-therapy. A lot of times you have to have a properly trained therapist to help heal. Having both personal experience and close friends who have gone through intense trauma therapy, you just can’t do that stuff on your own.

[@sarahstudies8149]

I think it's not therapy, it's self-care.

[@AG-hx6qn]

Isn't therapy a form of self care? O.o

[@zara.arcana]

I would love to hear more about how to use glamours to help with body image issues and self acceptance! Love from the U.K.

[@docquoth]

Commenting for the algorithm - and also in atheist solidarity :) nice to know I’m not the only secular witch out there

[@snazzypazzy]

Ohh, I'd love to hear more about glamours for self acceptance! Good points all around! Witchcraft is not a substitute for mental health support by a professional. But it can certainly be supportive I've found. Certain techniques I learned in therapy I've been able to ritualize to give them more power. Some self help techniques can also be part of a practice. But there's plenty of nonsense floating around on the internet (especially on the how to be more productive side) and people should be very sceptical indeed.

[@haywardjeblomey6505]

How does magical belief help your mental health?

[@SednaWoo]

I don't believe in magic. I personally believe that magical thinking is bad for mental health but I'm not an expert on the topic.

[@haywardjeblomey6505]

@@SednaWoo I'm sorry I think I missed what was going on here. My mistake.

[@snazzypazzy]

@@haywardjeblomey6505 No problem! As Sedna said, it's not a belief in magic, but using different tools to promote mental health. For example: my therapists have given me plenty of advice on things to do when I feel depressed or anxious. For anxiety visualisation works for me. And I combined that visualisation exercise with ritual by "annointing" a simple pebble with scented oils, and if I feel anxious I can visualise the pebble absorbing all of the anxiety. It's slightly easier that way. But I don't think that rock holds any special power. It's just a tool for me. But if you are in need of mental health support, just going in blind with rituals can give you wrong ideas or get you further into trouble. (Like people suppressing their feelings because they think that is the healthy way to deal.) Consulting with a professional is very important.

[@drapsielapsie]

@@SednaWoo Could you elaborate on why you believe magical thinking is bad for mental health? Maybe a topic for another video?

[@alexandra8833]

heya, I just wanted to let you know that you are a big part of the reason I continue to be interested in witchcraft. Of course, I follow many witches on youtube and tiktok, and their content is super fun, but I never connect with it like I do with yours. Your atheist craft really resonates with my path, and I just wanted to thank you for that. Keep up the great content!

[@Frithogar]

You are right. Magical practice should not be used to replace any sort of medical advice or practice where it is available and that goes for physical and psychological problems. But things like meditation and ritual practice may have physiological effects that are beneficial as a way of maintaining health. The idea that meditation, chanting, ritual etc. can influence the parasympathetic nervous system can be used to influence things like blood pressure and may be blood sugar are being investigated, mostly in more mainstream religions but ritual is ritual.

[@SednaWoo]

Absolutely yes. Meditation and ritual should be considered part of basic self care in the way that healthy eating, exercise, and stress management are.

[@BetzelemElokim]

Is it like "therapy" or "psychotherapy"? I feel like those are two VERY different things. I think it could count as a form of self-therapy in the same sense that journaling is an accepted self-therapy method, or the physical self-care methods therapy relies on like sleep hygeine. Ritual could certainly fall into a Maslow's heirarchy level of need to help build the base that therapy can't go very deep without. In my own experience, psychotherapy is a subset of therapy usually done only by people with doctorates, particular training, and usually in the legacy of Freud, Jung, etc. (I'm not an expert, just a nerd who's been churned through the American mental health system for far too long.) We have studies showing ritual as "therapeutic" in all kinds of religions, so presumably witchcraft would be no different than saying the Rosary, for example. But what is the difference between "therapy" and "therapeutic"? In my state, social workers are the most common "therapists," and I really don't understand why or why we also have "certified therapists." And we all know the issues and harms around life coaches, but we can't deny there's a history there of informal therapy (like the preacher or his wife in prior generations or in some religious communities today). And the biggest question of all - all of this is about "self-care," in the non-trendy sense. The lines are blurry and usually poorly defined (and *very* poorly explained to the people using these resources). But would I call it a form of self-therapy? Sure. Isn't that the whole point of saying you're basing this on the concept of open-label placebo? We use placebos to create "therapeutic effects."

[@McMoldys]

I completely agree with you

[@poetryalpastor]

I'd love to see a video about your approach to shadow work! In the meantime though, any resources you like that I could check out? Re: "You might see what you think you want to see and then you're just going to cherry-pick that out. And then things that don't fit with your paradigm or your worldview you're just going to graze over." I definitely agree, and I think for me it's really important to be transparent about the things we practice (even if it's not witchcraft or therapy!) with our communities to help us stay accountable. But if I can maybe, uh, undermine you? I guess? 😅 a little bit, I think the above is *also* a huge problem with medical/therapy practicioners themselves; I definitely know in my own experience with counselors that has been the case and a lot of the help I get out of counseling is from counselors being wrong and me figuring out why that's annoying LMAO. So yeah, I hope that's a helpful additional perspective and doesn't just come off as pedantic!

[@poetryalpastor]

Oh yeah and also, I think it's easy to be all primitivist and be like "therapy's fake, do whatever you want!" but as flawed as therapy can be I don't actually think that's true and I think we shouldn't claim to practice psychotherapy or other specific forms of therapy, whether on ourselves or others, unless we do.

[@SednaWoo]

I'm sure I've read blogs about supernatural free shadow work. Let me do some digging.

[@naa4530]

yer awesome

[@Ann963]

I think witchcraft can be therapeutic, but like you said, it is not the same as therapy with a professional.

[@sarahparry9740]

Damn good content.

[@nataliasegal8674]

I am starting to wonder if witchcraft is a form of self-hypnosis....which has been proven to help with subclinical anxiety and perception of pain in psych. trials...so not exactly therapy, but people do effectively use self-hypnosis and self-suggestion for healing

[@synical13]

I hope everything is alright, getting a bit worried. Does anyone know if she announced somewhere that she was taking a break or something?

[@SednaWoo]

I didn't mean to take such a long break but I've been really tied up with other things. I'm okay, I promise ❤️

[@synical13]

@@SednaWoo No worries, take all the time you need, I'm just glad you're okay. Oh, and Happy New Year! ...a tad early, but what the hell.

[@zoefay2358]

First comment I win

[@SednaWoo]

You all get a prize but the prize you folks won is good vibes.

[@DeconvertedMan]

hey Woo, I dont really watch your content much - so I'm going to let ya go, hope you do well in all you do, I'll have my other channel sub you even though I dont use that one so you will keep a nice number of subs. best to you and yours, always

[@deconvertedman8742]

hey me, I sub. k latter