Harald Walach

Background

Born in 1957, Harald Walach is a German psychologist, medical researcher and historian and philosopher of science. He received his Diploma in Psychology (MSc equivalent) from the University of Freiburg in 1984, a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Bale, Switzerland in 1991, and a PhD in History and Theory of Science from the University of Vienna in 1995. In 1998 he earned his habilitation, i.e. professorial credentials, in psychology from the University of Freiburg. After heading research groups at the University of Northampton (UK), he is currently the director of the Institute of Transcultural Health Studies at Europa Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, and the director of the European Office of the Samueli Institute which has funded his work since its inception in 2000. He is course leader of the first postgraduate training course for doctors in complementary medicine and cultural sciences.

The commission by the state of Brandenburg for the review of Universities ("Hochschulstrukturkommission") which reviewed the University Viadrina where his IntraG, funded by Heel (corporation) is located came to the conclusion that this Institute should not be continued within the university. The University Viadrina in February 2013 has decided to continue the institute. The institute is supposed to cooperate with a medical faculty within 24 months to consolidate the scientific quality.

Psychology and parapsychology

As a clinical psychologist, Walach has conducted, supervised and published empirical studies examining the benefits of mindfulness meditation for mental and physical health. He has developed the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). He has also developed a questionnaire to measure exceptional human experiences. Walach is also interested in scientific approaches to non-reductive and progressive rather than dogmatic forms of spirituality. He is an editor of the scientific series Neuroscience, Consciousness, Spirituality.

In 2012, Harald Walach received the negative prize "Goldenes Brett" from Austrian skeptics, mainly for a masters thesis about the Kozyrev mirror conducted under his supervision. Whereas he praised it as "outstanding", it was widely regarded as unscientific in the media.

Medical research

Walach is a researcher in complementary and alternative medicine, having conducted, supervised and published a variety of clinical, experimental and epidemiological studies. He is editor-in-chief of the Karger journal Forschende Komplementärmedizin and founding member and a past president of International Society for Complementary Medicine Research (ISCMR). Together with theoretical physicists Hartmann Römer and Harald Atmanspacher, Walach has developed a model of generalised entanglement that attempts to explain anomalous phenomena, such as certain non-specific therapy effects and parapsychological phenomena.

History and philosophy of science

Related to his interest in the scientific study of spirituality, Walach holds a PhD in history and philosophy of science for an annotated translation of Hugo de Balma. As both a philosopher of science and medical researcher, Walach has advocated the revision of the concept of evidence-based medicine (EBM), stressing the importance of a circular model of evidence in medical research and criticising problematic assumptions inherent in the hierarchical structure of current EBM.

Main features of thought

Harald Walach is member of the scientific advisory board of a blog called "CAM-Media Watch" which is run by a Journalist also paid mainly by Heel (corporation). The blog sees itself as "spin doctor" for press on the subject of Complementary and Alternative Medicine ("CAM") and has been reported to also smear a scientist critical of homeopathy.

Publications

Walach has authored over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and numerous editorials and invited texts.

His monographs and books include: