ISSN 1538-1080
I have been there: both with epidural and without, and I can say that each was right for me at the time. Here we face the age old problem of not imposing ones own values on others. But especially in terms of the patient/doctor relationship because there is definitely a power imbalance there, how to
Two days ago I completed my four week long obstetrics/ and gynecology core rotation. The month was filled with the unexpected in many ways. One of the surprises was my response to epidural (spinal) anesthesia injections that are given to reduce pain during labor and delivery. My mother started training to be a lay midwife
Working in the cardiac stress testing department of a mega-hospital complex is a little like working in a factory, except that instead of producing widgets, our factory produces completed cardiac stress tests. There is pressure from supervisors to get patients tests done quickly, so that more tests can be done. The departments emphasis on efficiently
Over the last two years I have taken care of a wonderful man named Stanley. Sadly, Stanley became severely ill and his condition progressively deteriorated despite my best efforts to help in every way I could devise. Stanley jokingly said to me that he could write a book with all he has gone through. We
Healing has been part of traditional folk medicine here, as in all cultures. Healing has also been an important part of the Norwegian Sami culture. Both the medicine of the Sami people and Norwegian folk medicine in general suffered under pressure form the church and the medical profession for several hundred years, but has still
Abstract While visiting Iceland during the summer of 1994, I conducted two American Indian healing rituals that produced impressive results. The first part of this essay describes the spiritual landscape of Iceland, which I believe was an important influence on therapeutic outcome. The second part discusses the healing interventions, one for a patient with multiple
Words are inadequate to convey the potency of love in healing old hurts and current fears. You cannot know a peach from peach. You must see it and smell it and taste it. This article describes a potent guided self-healing technique focused on love, and shares the clinical experiences of the authors in using this
AbstractSpiritual healing in the past twenty-five years has evolved from a model in which healers could heal with the instantaneous power of their touch, to a model in which healers facilitate the awakening of a persons inner healer. This shift in the awareness and practice of spiritual healing can today be seen in almost all
Abstract This preliminary study examines the adjunctive use of flower essence therapy in the treatment of mild to moderate major depression. Flower essence therapy is similar to homeopathy in that it involves the ingesting of a substance which is physically dilute, but energetically active. Flower essences were prepared from a solar infusion of the fresh
In medical training, humanity takes second place to scientific achievement. The realization that we are producing a generation of less than humane doctors has begun to trouble both medical educators and clinicians. Might the study of the humanities, especially the reading of literature, in medical training help doctors to be more humane? Some proponents certainly