funny thing is I agree with some of what Alex promotes, the diet and low stress and so on, but he wont reveal some of the more wako elements, the NLP (similar to Lightening Process).
Yes I think OHC is a mixed bag and more nuanced than most of this thread would suggest (which shouldn't be read as a ringing endorsement) though I'm too ill today to explain well I fear. An example is they are actually quite critical of the Lightning Process, saying that it leaves people with a sense of guilt. They run courses for just people who have previously done the Lightning Process, implying they don't consider it as effective as the hype, as then people wouldn't need a follow up course (though they probably maintain more elements of LP than we'd be comfortable with). Alex Howard said something about distancing himself from LP due to disagreement over marketing techniques. It is something post-LP, moving on from it.
When I started the nutritional phone appointments (and related supplements) I went from bedbound stage to housebound-up-most-of-the-day stage within 2 weeks. I can't definitely attribute cause but it seemed like more than coincidence at the time.
I also watched the Secrets to Recovery videos and they were mostly helpful at a time when there was no way I could access this forum (which could have offered similar advice on supplements and pacing, but I couldn't read so that was not an option open to me). There are definitely wacky elements that I didn't pursue. I also didn't have any Psychology style appointments.
I like the diversity but they do take on a lot of ideas (as a positive this means they're not zealous about one trademarked idea like other clinics).
What it makes me think of is if a number of us on here got well and decided we knew what had made us well (which might or might not be accurate) and set up the Phoenix Rising Recovery Centre, including all our ideas. Some of it would be spot on, and some of it would be nonsense, and some people would see good results as a mixture of placebo and also hitting on actually relevant protocols.
I think this analogy helps in terms of conceptualising OHC in your mind, they seem to me to be more like us trying to agree a protocol than the UK CBT/GET Psych Lobby. If it wasn't in the context of UK ME politics (which they seem to ignore) it might not even aggravate us at all. It seems more genuinely BioPsychoSocial than the supposed BPS model of ME which is actually a psychosocial approach. I'm somewhat amused to see how they manage to take on the CBT/GET machine, though perhaps I should be worried.