January 2008, Volume 8, No. 1
CREATING NEW REALITIES
"Fleeting Thoughts"
by Paper Fiber Collage Artist, Mary Karavos
www.karavosart.com
Wholistic healing invites changes at all levels of our being. The marvelous pictures of Mary Karavos demonstrate how persistence and patience enable us to create new realities - in the process of their creation as well as in the outstanding finished images. See how 'Fleeting Thoughts' and other stunning pictures can be created from tiny pieces of paper.
See also fascinating articles on innovatie ways for healing of body, emotions, mind, relationships and spirit in this issue of IJHC.
Editorial MusingsThe Many Faces of Time
Daniel J. Benor, MD
We have many perceptions of time - not only that of the clock ticking and the sands of time dwindling in a cosmic hourglass. Shamanic time, the sense of time in traditional healing, provides important alternative perspectives on ways in which time may be problematic or healing in our lives. Deeper understandings of time provide broader lessons for wholistic living and healing.
ResearchDiagnosis Shock: The Unrecognized Burden of Illness
Judith A. Swack, PhD
"Diagnosis shock is the phobic reaction people experience the moment they first suspect or are told that they have a serious physical or emotional illness. Researchers have found that patients diagnosed with serious illness experience shock and trauma which can result in irrational reactions and behaviors and in some cases lead to serious psychological illness. This retrospective study of more than 100 patients was designed to help psychological and physical healthcare practitioners recognize, prevent, and treat diagnosis shock. This paper is the first report of diagnosis shock in patients with no clinical illness and the first report of the use of Energy Psychology techniques to successfully prevent or clear diagnosis shock from the unconscious mind and body . . .
This study found that, untreated, patient's phobic reactions to diagnosis shock could cause compliance problems including failure to follow through on instructions or participate in prescribed treatment plans for dealing with the disease that was diagnosed, behaviors possibly leading to adverse health outcomes. Diagnosis shock also adversely affected relationships of some patients with their healthcare providers, caregivers, and family members and diminished overall quality of life. This study also describes how diagnosis shock may interfere with doctor-patient relationships and cooperation, and can contribute to caregiver burnout. Based on these findings, healthcare practitioners are given treatment suggestions for preventing and, if necessary clearing, diagnosis shock from patients and their families."
The effect of touching a dolphin on respiration and brain activity in children
Ayako Homma, BA. Hideki Hara, PhD, Kumiko Matsuzaki, PhD, Yoshiko Nakagawa, PhD, Yuri Masaoka, PhD, and Ikuo Homma, MD, PhD
The touching of animals as therapy is widely accepted in various medical applications. Dolphin facilitated therapy has been applied in the treatment of autistic individuals and in adult and child patients with depression. However, there are no studies on the effectiveness of this therapy with respect to psychological states as correlated with physiologic states or focal brain activity. There are many reports that respiration is altered by various emotions and may be an index for the measurement of certain emotional states in humans. In this study, we examined the effects of dolphin touching on the emotional state or anxiety, respiratory rate, and brain activity in seven children (7-12 years old). STATE anxiety scores were significantly decreased, and respiratory rate was also decreased after dolphin touching. EEG frequency was used as index for investigating individuals in awake and arousal state. Frequencies between 4 to 12 Hz (theta and alpha) were defined as a relaxed state and frequencies between 13 to 30 Hz (beta) as an arousal state.
Living with Life ChallengesSufism - On Joy and Pain
Betty Smith, MSW
"How could we know how deeply we have loved or lived if we never have experienced the pain of loss? Joy and pain are inseparable. The above quote from the Sufi poet Rumi reminds me of the preciousness of life, the past, my memories and the mercy of the Universe providing existence, life and people to love and to cherish. The ability to be grateful in the presence of pain is an integral part of the living process. To choose avoiding this pain would be choosing to have not loved or lived at all.
The Sufi mystics see "pain as essential to purification and as essential to the alchemical transformation of the dull human mind and heart into their secret gold." It is the vulnerability, the open heart, the willingness to love enough, and the risk of experiencing pain and loss that makes us alive. It is not cherishing the wounding, but embracing our ability to feel, to be present, and to know the essence of life. According to Sufi wisdom, suffering is inevitable and necessary in order for our souls to grow. I have experienced loss deeply and often and believe, as the Sufis maintain, we must learn to trust in its ordained necessity. In the dance called life we must meet life as we find it and be present in the face of that which we desire least but cannot avoid. That is the Sufi way. We do not "run to suffering, but neither do we run from it."
NAMASTE: Seeing through the eyes of Mother Theresa
Amy Thakurdas, PhD
On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa, one of our most treasured peacemakers and humanitarians passed away. I had always admired her work in India and around the world. The enormous strength, courage and compassion that she role-modeled left me in awe of her work. She truly was an incredible human being who left a spiritual legacy for millions to emulate and enjoy.
During my meditation in the week that she died, I made a point of focusing my intention on her magnificent work and good deeds. I received many blessings by way of spiritual insights and gifts. The is the one I share with you here.
Variations on the Theme of HealingThe Healing Codes: A path to peace? One coach's perspective
Lorna Minewiser, PhD
Dr. Lorna Minewiser, a Healing Codes Coach, describes the Healing Codes program using Dr. Benor's list of common factors in healing. She cites research by Dr. Bruce Lipton, which appears to substantiate the process underlying the Healing Codes. The description of how Dr. Alex Loyd discovered the Healing Codes and how they seem to work is followed by Dr. Minewiser's experience with the Healing Codes. Interviews with several of her Healing Codes clients are included. She concludes that the Healing Codes process can help people change their beliefs about themselves and their world and find peace. The Codes may also heal at a deep spiritual level, as Dr. Loyd claims.
Strategic Counseling
David Gersten, MD
"How do you begin to overcome emotional distress? If the pain is severe enough that you require professional help, how do you decide on a particular clinician or healer?
In this article, I share my model of psychotherapy: psycho-spiritual counseling. The umbrella of all my work, as a holistic physician, is in Integrative Psychiatry and Nutritional Medicine. Half of my treatment approach involves nutritional medicine and half involves strategic counseling. I want to make this clear because total healing is most likely to occur when people address body, mind, spirit . . . and even more dimensions of life. By only addressing nutritional deficiencies and other body-level issues, we only see part of the picture."
Wholistic ApproachesFamily Repatterning: Clearing ancestral patterns
Alison Rose Levy, MA
"Family Repatterning is based on systemic family constellation work and also incorporates the use of guided imagery and energy psychology. This embodied method done in a workshop setting enlists a healing circle of participants to help individuals trace their current life patterns back to their familial sources, which are often traumatic events in a family's past."
This choreographed family psychodrama can rapidly and dramatically unravel disabling family myths that have had crippling effects on generations.
Student and Healee Experiences of HealingA spiritual counselor
Tami
Thinks that the Healing Codes can work on an incredible deep spiritual plane.
Art and Humor are HealingPaper Passage
Mary Karavos, AOCAD
Mary Karavos is a Paper Fiber Artist, a graduate in Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design, with a year of advanced studies at the OCAD College in Florence, Italy. The Florentine light and color and her love of paper inspired her to develop a unique style of collage that produces images that look like paintings.
Mary's paper collage, 'Fleeting Thougts,' appears on the cover of this issue of IJHC.
PoetryAn Unexpected Visit
Katie Meara
Words & one-liners
Ric Masten
Wholistic News ReviewsWholistic News Reviews: Traditional, Complementary, Alternative, and Psycho-Social Modalities of Treatment
Larry Lachman, PsyD
Book ReviewsPaul Hawken. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming
Maggie Phillips. Reversing Chronic Pain: A 10-point all-natural plan for lasting relief
Rob Luka. Helping Children Overcome Fear in a Medical Setting: A guide for healthcare professionals
Sharon Begley. Train Your Mind Change Your Brain: How a new science reveals our extraordinary potential to transform ourselves
Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist
Becker, Marty, with Danelle Morton. The Healing Power of Pets: Harnessing the Amazing Ability of Pets to Make and Keep People Happy and Healthy
Shirley Humphreys Battie. Channeling: Use Your Psychic Powers to Contact your Spirit Guides
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