A medical doctor writes an unconventional prescription for optimal health

What do you do when you’ve exhausted the possibilities of Western medicine, and you still feel exhausted, depressed, weakened, and in pain?  Listen to the messages of your body, says Dr. Lissa Rankin. In this article, she describes how she designed a radical new intake form for her patients, where the biggest question was, What

How touching saves lives

I stumbled across this beautiful article today, by Dr. Alex Lickerman, a Buddhist physician.  He tells the story of an ER patient who was so terrified of needles that the prospect of having her blood drawn had her shaking, rigid, and in tears.  Not knowing what else to do, the doctor took her hand, which

[Holiday Rerun]…And what is “energy” anyway?

Last week, I posted a question as to whether Rubenfeld Synergy Method is energy work.  Ultimately, I think it is not, though sometimes what some call “energy” enters into it.  The problem, I posited, is that what energy workers call “energy” is not something that can be proven to exist, or quantified by science.  Therefore,

…And what is “energy” anyway?

Last week, I posted a question as to whether Rubenfeld Synergy Method is energy work.  Ultimately, I think it is not, though sometimes what some call “energy” enters into it.  The problem, I posited, is that what energy workers call “energy” is not something that can be proven to exist, or quantified by science.  Therefore,

Principles of RSM #18: Self-care is the first step to client care

This is it, folks: the last in the series of 18 Principles of Rubenfeld Synergy Method!  It took a little more than 18 weeks to do it, but this is it! There’s plenty more to write about RSM, but if you have anything you’d really like to hear about, please, let me know by commenting

Laughter study at UCLA shows how humor can boost the immune system

An study at UCLA is experimenting with how laughter might help kids with cancer and other painful diseases to manage pain better, recover from it faster, and generally have stronger immune systems. The study is ongoing at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center, through a nonprofit project called Rx Laughter.  Its pilot study on kids presented results

Massage Therapy Boosts the Immune System of Cancer Patients – Guest Post

The lovely Melanie Bowen of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog contacted me not too long ago, wanting to guest post in this space about the power of healing touch to help cancer patients.  While this article is specifically about massage therapy, I have also known patients to get a lot of benefit out of Rubenfeld

Principles of RSM #12: Pleasure needs to be supported to balance pain

This week’s principle is probably one of the easiest to understand.   Oftentimes, whether in therapy, medicine, or bodywork, we have the tendency to focus on the negative.  The reasons are obvious: we’re at the doctor or the massage therapist or the psychologist to get relief from what’s troubling us.  Sure, we get checkups at

Toward a new theory of depression

Yesterdays’ New York Times Magazine contains a long article by Siddhartha Mukherjee detailing the history of the serotonin theory of depression, and a newly emerging theory about neuron generation. The whole thing is very much worth the read, and opens a number of fascinating questions and possibilities about what it is that causes what writer

Treating the whole person – autism, science and skepticism

Yesterday, I stumbled across this wonderful article in WBUR’s Common Health blog, with a book excerpt by Dr. Martha Herbert, who has been studying autism for 15 years or so. In it, she describes how some kids with autism have managed to be essentially cured of it, and how others have been helped to a