The Shady Side of Wellness - Spiritual Thinking & Conspiracy Theories

Join Dr. Danielle Belardo and her expert of the week, multi-faceted author, media expert, and co-host of the Conspirituality Podcast, Derek Beres. Derek is pulling back the curtain on the wellness industry and exposing the harmful trends, tactics, and patterns of pseudoscience influencers that have turned spirituality into paranoia. Today’s eye-opening episode will leave you with the tools to weed through spiritual disinformation and recognize a “wellness” opportunist when you see one.  

Danielle and Derek discuss: 

• The meaning and origins of conspirituality  
• How the wellness industry has been taken over by conspiracy theories and fake progressive wellness utopianism 
• How charismatic influencers exploit their followers and tips to avoid scamfluencers   
• The horseshoe effect in wellness and why it is a major red flag  

Derek Beres is a Los Angeles based writer and the Senior Editor at Eco. Currently, he is co-writing Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat with Matthew Remski and Julian Walker. He has been featured in over forty publications, including Rolling Stone, Women’s Health, Big Think, Yoga Journal, and National Geographic. He is also the co-founder of EarthRise SoundSystem and has produced records for Six Degrees Records and Vieux Farka Toure. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to contribute to a generation that values fact over fiction! Be sure to rate, review, and follow on your favorite podcast app and let us know which not-so-wellness trend you’d like to hear debunked. Follow your host on Instagram @daniellebelardomd and the podcast @wellnessfactvsfiction. Learn more about Derek at derekberes.com. 

Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible. Check out these deals just for you: 

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FITON - Text WELLNESS to 64-000 to join FitOn for free! 

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