Voltaire: “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”
Phase 1: May I Engage With You…
Not unlike the rest of life, Healing itself is a process. As we heal, we become aware of our body, our psyche, our self, changing. And so it’s essential for a healer to be aware of the subtle shifts in the client as they move toward health.
As a young musician, I learned how to listen for subtle shifts in tone, in cadence and in rhythm in the music I was studying. It was a given that playing and composing music requires both intuition and rigorous discipline. It was this same awareness that I later brought to Holistic Medicine.
In a similar fashion, it’s one of my intentions now to always listen to your concerns and assess your needs. Whether I’m using acupuncture, hypnosis or supplements, the goal is always to jump-start your body’s amazing recuperative powers. I do this against the backdrop of your diet, your lifestyle, your presenting symptoms and your emotional challenges. As such, my goal is less to ‘fix you’, than to bring out your own healing mechanism, while engaging you in the healing process. The active patient invariable does better than the passive one. So take strength, and gather strength from the process. The flip side is being passive, giving in to hope and turning your power over to another individual. You don’t want your primary care physician to have the attitude of Alec Badwin’s surgeon…do you?
Alec Baldwin’s arrogant surgeon in the movie “Malice”: “When someone goes into that chapel and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn’t miscarry or that their daughter doesn’t bleed to death or that their mother doesn’t suffer acute neural trauma from postoperative shock, who do you think they’re praying to? … You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God.”
Phase 2: The Clues.
We will look for a small clue—nothing too transformative, mind you—that will solve the riddle and waken your dormant immune system. It’s less about turning your life inside out than tweaking a few things here and there. We look at energy levels, diet, emotions, lifestyle, and family history. We encourage blood workups and/or charts, or anything else, Western or Eastern that might help you
3: Change is Not A Dirty Word
Most psychologists will say that we humans are not so open to change; that we are life-long creatures of habit. I would say we are creatures of habit, but only out of habit; that in fact, we are as capable of change as we feel we are. This is why hypnosis can be a valuable tool. It helps us implement the changes that we ultimately need to make if we wish to remain free of medication and surgery. When our sage subconscious mind speaks, and our conscious mind gets the message, small miracles can happen. Our diet improves, and we focus on truly taking care of ourselves. We may even let go of toxic medications, thereby taking control our wellness. That choice, when we make it, always lies within us.
Thus we can approach the concept of change as a gradual process, a series of small steps that we can take, one simple level at a time. In many ways, it’s like learning a musical instrument: We begin slowly and, with time, are able to play music we never thought we could. Our bodies aren’t that different. Each small step we take on our own behalf can lead to a healthier, happier and more resonant life.