> Not sure what you are getting at by claiming it isn't.
Semantics & accuracy.
I'll appeal to authority for you...
“Some doctors are scientists – just as some politicians are scientists – but most are not,”
"Indeed, most doctors are incapable of critically appraising an article. They have never been trained to do so."
Richard Smith - Editor British Medical Journal
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC428500/
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc are sciences.
Pediatrics, Oncology, Counseling are practices.
The technique will use science, however they are not a science in themselves. Even though the practices are "based on science", sometimes there issues with the initial studies that we later find out in later studies.
Dealing with the inner working of reality is hard. There's lots of unseen complexity. The unknowns are still unknown. Science often lags practical application because it requires fundamental understanding, capital, accredited scientists, & peer review. E.g. we knew how to create catapults before we had Newtonian Physics.
Also, be careful because the definition of "based on science" has become heavily politicized & driven to sell something to the public. Monsanto created GM crops that are "safe" "based on science". We are now finding out that their crops are wreaking havoc to the ecosystem. e.g. the Bees & Monarch Butterfly populations have collapsed.
In the 1950s, Cigarettes were deemed "based on science". Asbestos was deemed safe "based on science".
I speak because I do know a renowned medical practitioner & researcher. I have a glimpse on how the sausage is made.
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> Many of the so-called 'swamis' of the world would be considered mentally ill in the Western world.
That is more of a condemnation of the Western world. Locking someone up just because they are not "gainfully employed" and "another brick in the wall" is hardly healthy.
> People didn't have it 'figured out' hundreds or thousands of years ago.
We don't now either. Look at how humans have impacted the environment in such a short time. Also look at our pointless & expensive wars that we engage in. Look at the obesity epidemic. Feel the cold unhappiness & judgement of modern western culture.
> Hundreds or thousands of years ago people use to cut out other people's tongues or raid each other's homes to kidnap slaves.
We still do. People are still murdered, oppressed, silenced. Slavery still exists, more so now then ever.
> The human race has done some horrible things to each other over time and I don't subscribe to the idea that somehow we should be looking to those generations for advice on mental wellness.
It's not so much the time period or ethnicity. It's more about the attitude we have toward each each other. There are good and bad people now. There were good and bad people then. History teaches us on what works and what doesn't work.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
- George Santayana
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Note: I find it amusing that my previous comment, which basically says "think for yourself", have a "critical view of things", and "understand causality", is downvoted on HN.