The unconditional love of a mother for her child is such a great life experience to celebrate! My own mother loved to care for her children and family, but she wouldn’t refrain from an occasional remark if she felt we were veering off course. For instance, she felt I could sometimes be a little hard […]
Spirituality and prisoners of war: the ultimate freedom on Veterans day
It was near dusk when I read the granite-carved inscription about those who served in the Pacific and wished my Uncle Wally could have been there with me. Quietly remembering what he told me about his imprisonment brought tears to my eyes. I’ll never forget the WWII veteran I met there that day and the heartfelt embrace […]
Emmy-Nominated Film, ‘Escape Fire’ and Treating the Whole Person
CNN’s feature on the documentary film Escape Fire: the Fight to Rescue American Healthcare was nominated for an Emmy. Escape Fire is a documentary worth seeing that highlights the critical need for a paradigm shift in healthcare. Dr. Donald M. Berwick, an internationally recognized expert on healthcare reform, established the term “Escape Fire” in a […]
Treating Pain: A New Ontology is Needed
In the 19th century, phrenology was viewed as a respected science that based its findings on measurements of the skull to determine a person’s character and mental capacity. Few follow phrenology today. Contemporary neuroscience utilizes brain scans to detect correlations between the body and the brain. Yet, both sciences lack explanatory power when it comes […]
Can Viewing Yourself Differently Actually Stop Chronic Pain?
If you’re one of the millions who suffer from chronic pain, you may have noticed the attention currently focused on a powerful new narcotic called Zohydro. With so much focus on ending our nation’s pain killer epidemic, the timing of the FDA’s recent approval of this new drug has many perplexed. It was just six […]
Why we should all be dancing to Pharrell’s monster hit “Happy”!
Four years ago, I wrote an article about the Black Eyed Peas song “Where is the Love.” I don’t usually follow contemporary rap or R&B, but the lyrics in this song reaching out for divine love was a powerful message. Pharrell Williams’s monster hit “Happy” is another song worth taking note of. From Slovakia to […]
Six Health Tips I’ve Noticed About The Super Bowl XLVIII-Bound Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are playing in the upcoming Super Bowl for only the second time in their 38-year history. What makes this team different from the 36 Seattle teams that never made it? I suspect it has something to do with the mental attitude fostered by coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider. These […]
Needed: New Ways to Relieve Pain
“My husband served honorably, with pride and dignity, not to come home and die on the couch!” These were the tearful words of army specialist Scott McDonald’s widow in a special CBS report last September. After five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, McDonald returned home with chronic pain and after one year overdosed on prescribed […]
Treating Anxiety and Depression: What’s Faith Got to Do With It?
Besides both being products of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, the antidepressant Prozac and the premenstrual drug Sarefem have something else in common. Give up? According to a recent article in Salon by British writer Jamie Davies, except for the color, size and shape of the pills, the content of the two medications is identical. Essentially, […]
The Placebo Effect: A Conversation With Dr Irving Kirsch
“Explosive” was the word 60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl used to describe the scientific conclusions of Harvard’s Dr Irving Kirsch in the episode titled “Treating Depression, Is there a Placebo Effect?,” which aired February 19, 2012. Dr Kirsch, the associate director of the Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter hosted at the Beth […]