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Healing Arts Report
Volume 1, No.
8
HEALING ARTS: New discipline of somatic psychology SCIENCE REPORT: Is there evidence for the evolution of conscious in cells? RESEARCH REPORT: History of research in homeopathy HEALTH RESOURCES: Alternative cancer therapies conference HEALTH NEWS: Extensive study of ginseng products is underway When I first moved to this part of the country, I looked for a healthy social activity. I heard that up on the mountain, not far from my house, there was contradancing every Saturday night. In contradancing, the steps are the same as in square dancing -- for example, do-si-do, allemande, promenade, and swing, with instructions given by a caller. Instead of a square, however, the couples dance in long lines, usually with partners across from each other. With each repetition of the dance pattern, alternating couples move either up or down the line. As each couple arrives at the bottom of the line, they become `inactive' and move back up the line. The overall pattern of the dances is clearly a map for how to live in community. You have a partner, but you interact with everyone. The couple opposite you is always changing as you move through the dance and you may pass them again later. These dances impart a sense of fun, variety, and order, while the music lends drive. Newcomers are dazzled by the appearance of complexity. How did 100 people come to be spinning and walking, changing places, and moving back and forth at the same time with so little instruction from the caller? In spite of creating an overall pattern together and performing the same steps, every person moves and interacts in his own unique body language. Every dancer responds in his or her own way to the others' movements. Sensing the body and observing how our movements and gestures reflect how we relate to everyone and everything is used therapeutically in a discipline called `somatic psychology.' Somatic Psychology: The Body Reflects Psychological Process Christine Caldwell, Ph.D., L.P.C., founder of the Somatic Psychology Department and dance therapy program at the Naropa Institute, describes some of the basic premises in the field of somatic psychology: * Somatic psychology is the study of the way experiences from the environment are absorbed, processed, and expressed by an individual through the body/mind. * The body/mind is a continuum rather than two separate and cooperative systems. * Every event we experience impacts our whole being -- physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. It has an effect on physical structure as well as emotions, energies, and thoughts. * The body is a metaphor which expresses experience through use of language, images, dreams, posture, stance, gestures, and behaviors. * Completing the process of experiencing feelings and expressing their effects is the healing modality. In this way, therapy restores movement in a person's life.1 The Premise of Somatic Psychology Caldwell summarizes, "What makes us happy and healthy is the ability to adapt and change and to accommodate the various surges of life." She has studied how we diminish our ability to do that and how to restore that ability. Treatment focuses on here-and-now sensory and behavioral experience rather than talking about an issue until one understands it. It is her view that our physical body is the best guide in that recovery process and that change can only occur in the present moment. The only way to be in the present moment is to be fully in the body. `Reading the body' serves as a kind of diagnosis which may help the client and therapist address problematic areas more quickly. According to Caldwell, parts of the body tend to store trauma, emotions, and memories in a manner consistent with their functions. This storage is in the form of distortions in affect, posture, and movement. The body displays what a person thought they had to accommodate in order to survive during their formative years. Increased awareness of the body can help patients understand how they perceive and organize their experiences. Clients experiencing body-related psychotherapy, either through physical touch or just by bringing attention to a body part, often report memories of earlier experiences and issues. Walking Through A Session Caldwell describes the process as having four phases. First, the client checks in, letting the therapist know what has been happening in his life. The therapist listens to content and also observes the person's body movements, gestures, and posture. The second phase is becoming responsible for one's experience and not requiring others to handle the experience for them. As an example, suppose the person spoke about his brother. The therapist might observe, "I noticed that you furrowed your brow when you spoke of him. Pay attention to your brow and see what it has to say." The client would attend to the furrowing and might even increase it to see what kinds of memories, images or sensations come up. Third is an appreciation phase. Self-love is lost by storing feelings in the unconscious. The client can get self-love back by letting the stored feeling move him, restoring his wholeness. The client might then say, "As I furrow my brow, I'm aware of feeling angry." The therapist would encourage the client to let himself feel or sense that feeling, allow it to exist in the body. For Caldwell, feelings are a combination of a physical sensation and what we think about it. She points out that our thoughts or criticisms about the sensation sometimes get us into trouble. We suppress the whole experience instead of treating it like an honored guest. The client re-empowers himself by riding out this intense experience. The fourth is an action phase. In this example, the therapist helps the client find out how the furrowing brow wants to complete itself. The therapist is a coach assisting a person in completing what the body was organizing itself toward. This is a beautiful way to recover our genuine, more essential self. However, it is a `use it or lose it' situation. The experience in therapy serves as a model and gives a taste of how it feels to handle an emotion differently. To lock in change, the client must go out into the world and practice doing things differently. What Emotions Do For Us Every emotion can help us change. We say we are `moved by' our emotions. Emotions may be designed through evolution to move us to a different position in life. Anger, for example, is an attempt to get our power back after we've disempowered ourselves. Grief helps us cope with loss or emptiness. Fear is designed to mobilize our resources, usually toward defense. We can learn to allow emotions to move us toward those important purposes. Caldwell sees the body as storing every event that occurs to us. The mind is in every cell. It is each cell's birthright to move freely, to restore mobility. In her book, Getting Our Bodies Back, Caldwell writes about how to use body- centered practices to recover from feeling stuck. Although she is generally writing about movement in a psychological sense, it isn't unknown for change to occur on the physical level. She has seen the disappearance of chronic pain and great improvements in rheumatoid arthritis. Caldwell's latest book, due to be released in the autumn by Quest Books, is called Getting In Touch. It is an anthology of writings by leaders in the field of somatic psychology. It includes writings by Amy and Arnie Mindell, Dreams and the Dreaming Body; Ron Kurtz and Pat Ogden, Hakomi Therapy; Ilana Rubenfeld, Rubenfeld Synergy Therapy; Kathlyn Hendricks, The Relationship Dance; and more. These practitioners have developed their own forms of therapy but they are also in the process of forming The Uni-ted States Association of Body Psychotherapies. Using Movement With Children When asked in a recent interview about the difference between dance therapy and somatic psychology, Christine Caldwell said, "They are cousins. Both use the body as the tool for therapeutic change. Dance therapy attends more to creative process, a more artistic and expressive way of moving as the healing dynamic. Body-centered psychotherapy is more generally oriented. It can include touch, breath work, massage-like manipulation of musculature, and various other techniques. It is less likely to involve artistically- or creatively-centered movement." Gary Gomer, Ph.D., a dance therapist, is currently working with youngsters in an ordinary school setting. When not actually learning dances, they play with movement. He isn't doing therapy as such, although Gomer has facilitated dance therapy in mental health settings. "Playing," he says, "is key to what I'd do with anyone wishing to use movement as a way of growing and changing." According to Gomer, kids do this naturally. "It's what they do and is just part of growing up." Gomer explains that when children play with movement, he doesn't necessarily talk with them about their experiences. Everyone has movement patterns which are connected to their sense of self. Movement is a wonderful way of sharing without relying on talking or social skills. It provides a way to acquire group cohesiveness, to feel a greater connection to the self, and for developing a broader sense of community. Gomer uses different kinds of music because each can facilitate certain kinds of behavior and relationships. Polka music gets the dancer to skip while waltz music makes people turn. Dance is wonderful for exploring relationships. It creates structures in which to explore interpersonal relations. In any group situation, closeness and distance are factors. Also, if a person feels that closeness or distance are a problem, he might want to explore the opposite movement and see what it brings up. According to Gomer, the benefits of working with movement include: * exploring who you are by getting more connected to yourself and finding out new things * discovering patterns of movement you are more comfortable doing * playing with ones that are less accessible * making insights and discoveries in an enjoyable and self-directed way Gomer describes a useful system of notation developed by Rudolf Laban to preserve scores of choreography. The system can aid anyone who wants to increase their perception of movement. Laban described three pairings which can be combined in eight ways. The pairings are firm/gentle, direct/indirect, quick/sustained. A punch, for example, could be firm, direct, and quick. In contrast, a push is firm, direct, and sustained. Motion made with the hands when playing a tamborine would be described as gentle, indirect, and quick. For an educational perspective on children and their bodies, he recommends the book Playing and Reality, by D.W. Winnicott. The author is famous for his phrase "transitional object." It is most often used to refer to toys or objects that children are attached to and which provide comfort when they begin exploring independent activities. Winnicott felt that a central part of development was the child's connection with his or her body. Without this connection, there would be a splitting off from one's true self and sense of authenticity. Gomer quietly lamented, "If only we dance therapists could write prescriptions for doing the waltz...." Christine Caldwell can be contacted at Moving Cycle Institute, P.O. Box 19892, Boulder, CO 80308. Phone 303-415-3774. Naropa offers dance therapy and somatic psychology degrees. Phone 303-444-0202. Phone the United States Association of Body Psychotherapies at 301-587-4011. They are planning a professional journal and, in June 1998, a conference in Boulder, Colorado. Bridges is a quarterly magazine published by The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine at 303-278-2228. Gary Gomer is with Partnership With Children, a private non-profit agency providing counseling and enrichment activities in New York City. Cells Reflect Evolution of Consciousness In a talk given by Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., at the Foundation for Mind-Being Research in May 1997, he described human consciousness as the top of an awareness spectrum that has its origins in the primitive awareness of unicellular organisms. If awareness can be shown to originate on a cellular level, it would provide theoretical support for some alternative healing methods which claim cellular memory such as somatic psychology or Rolfing. In fact, the work of Candace Pert and other psychoneuroimmunologists is supporting evidence for cells' awareness or interaction with emotions, thought, and other subtle energies. Lipton, a cell biologist and adjunct professor at J.F. Kennedy University, spoke of how unicellular organisms possess the same func- tions that more complex organisms have. These include respiratory, reproductive, digestive, excretory, nervous, and immune functions. William Gough, president of the Foundation for Mind-Being Research, explains Lipton's supposition: The earliest evolution of cells included thousands of variations of unicellular bacteria, algae, and protozoa, which occurred over a period of 3.5 billion years. Since the size of a cell is limited by the inherent strength of its membrane, evolution did not continue by expanding the cell surface. Instead, the next phase of evolution was the sticking together of cells and developing a shared membrane. Some multicellular organizations had only 50-100 cells while others eventually created beings of immense complexity, such as humans who are made up of 70 trillion cells. In order to form these communities, there has to be well-developed communication between cells. A key aspect of ill health, as on the societal level, could be the result of poor communication. Structure of the Cell Although the nucleus is commonly thought of as the brain of the cell because of it's role as the repository of genetic programs, Lipton contends it is actually the cell membrane which acts as the seat of consciousness. The membrane is the most primitive organelle and the only cellular feature common to all living organisms. Properties of the membrane represent the physical foundation upon which human consciousness is built. There are several reasons for believing that the cell's behavior is determined by some thing outside of itself and not the nucleus. First, cells whose genetic material has been destroyed still have appropriate survival responses and remain viable for extended periods of time. In fact, cells without a nucleus can survive for weeks, still exhibiting complex behaviors. It is the membrane that converts environmental signals into behavioral skills. The membrane is an electrical insulator. Its integrity- maintaining barrier is one of its most important attributes because the life of the cell depends upon there being an electrical differential between the inside and outside of the cell. There are protein molecules known as receptors on the surface of the membrane that act as channels to regulate communication across the barrier. The cell's level of perception is directly proportional to the number of receptor/channels on the membrane. Awareness is mediated by them, not the genes. The cell proteins are the causal agents responsible for biological functions while the genes provide molecular blueprints for the assembly of the proteins. Thus, the membrane serves as a signal processor and data entry system, while the nucleus provides memory storage. The receptors are linear strings of amino acids. They fold into a variety of three dimensional structures which create their shape, change their profiles, and influence behavior. In addition, the processes of protein folding are directly related to the pathology of such diseases as mad cow disease, amyloidosis, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia. Likewise, the process of protein folding will provide the biotechnological solutions for treating these diseases and conditions. Bruce Lipton and William Gough can be reached through The Foundation for Mind-Being Research at 415-941-7462. Homeopathy: New Look At An Old Medicine In spite of being more than 200 years old and practiced all over the world, homeopathy can still arouse strong skepticism from some members of the conventional medical community. Among the skeptics, the most sympathetic interpretation is that homeopathy works by means of the placebo effect. The more antagonistic skeptics revile homeopathy for providing false hope and keeping patients from seeking real medical treatment. Most homeopathic patients and practitioners would not disagree that there can be a placebo effect. They believe, however, that there are additional effects as well, and point to the successful outcomes of treating babies and animals with homeopathy. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the German physician who developed homeopathy, was a medical translator as well as a medical practitioner. He often translated literature from the Middle and Far East. His particular expertise was illnesses caused by poisons. According to Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, edited by Marc S. Micozzi, M.D., Ph.D., the roots of the word `homeopathy' mean `similar feeling.' Hahnemann chose this word to reflect the concept of using remedies which, when taken by a healthy person, would cause the same symptoms as those being treated in the sick person. Hahnemann was observing that the symptoms of illness are the body's attempt to regain it's equilibrium. His intention was to increase the natural vital process. This can be compared with Gestalt or somatic psychology where the focus on feelings or sensations is used to help the client move through imbalance and complete unresolved conflicts. It was Hahnemann, also, who used the word `allopathy,' meaning `other,' to indicate the conventional medical practice of counteracting symptoms. Sometimes this is done with a substance that suppresses symptoms and sometimes it was to provoke a response unrelated to them, such as in bloodletting. Homeopathic Research The first research in homeopathy was done by Hahnemann himself in what he called `provings' of the remedies. He gave a remedy to healthy individuals to determine the symptoms it would produce. He was the first to experiment with this method and in such scope. There are currently over 2,000 remedies for which provings were done. A symptom picture includes mental and emotional qualities as well as physical. Modern homeopathic provings are still being conducted and have the distinct advantage of access to modern statistical methods. The way in which the remedies are produced are quite specific and, in this country, are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States. Current Research Contemporary homeopathic research has focused on it's chemical and biological activity. Hahnemann, however, diluted his remedies to a degree beyond which molecules of the medicinal substance theoretically do not exist. He found that extreme dilutions were still medicinally effective and had fewer side effects. Authors Jennifer Jacobs and Richard Moskowitz report in the Homeopathy chapter of Fundamentals that, in the mid-1950s, a review of 25 investigations of microdoses was published. These dilutions had an effect on paramecia, the Schick test, growth of fungus, blood flow in the ears of rabbits, and on the germination of wheat.2 Jacobs and Moskowitz also report that over 100 studies have been done on high dilutions in the fields of immunology, toxicology, and pharmacology. It is not clear whether these high dilutions were prepared in the proscribed homeopathic manner; nevertheless, many of the studies indicate statistical significance. That is not to say there is no controversy over both successes and failures. One example of clinical research demonstrates one of the difficulties in researching a method of treatment not studied by conventional practitioners. Homeopathic remedies are prescribed according to the individual's pattern of symptoms, and not by a conventional diagnosis. It is highly unlikely that all patients receiving the same conventional diagnosis would be given the same remedy. Jacobs and Moskowitz tell of the first double-blind experiment published in a peer review medical jounal which showed statistically significant results treating rheumatoid arthritis with individualized homeopathic remedies.3 A later study on arthritis showed no effect using homeopathic treatment.4 However, in this study, all the patients had been given exactly the same remedy, which is inconsistent with homeopathic principles. Theory At this time there is no proven scientific explanation for the action of homeopathic remedies, although there are theories, which, in light of more recent developments in chaos or complexity theory, have plausiblilty.5 Electromagnetic energy6 and memory of water7 theories also have been proposed. Physical chemistry researchers theorize that the structure of water/alcohol solutions is altered by the medicinal substance during the process of dilution and retains that structural change even after the medicine is no longer present. Contact The National Center for Homeo-pathy at 703-548-7790 for more information on education, practitioners, legislation, and homeopathy. Non-Toxic Therapies For Cancer The Twenty-fifth Annual Cancer Convention for the general public and professionals will be taking place at the Pasadena Hilton August 30, 31, and September 1, 1997. The convention offers fifty speakers, five films, and sixty exhibits. A Doctor's Seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 2. The speakers' program includes Michael Schachter, M.D., "Preventing and Treating Breast Cancer Naturally;" Philip Benzel, M.D., "My Experience With Nutrition in the Treatment of Cancer;" Arnold Fox, M.D., "Antioxidants Against Cancer;" Jesse Stoff, M.D., "The Role of Botanicals and Nutrients in the Prevention and Control of Cancer;" and Lee Cowden, M.D., speaking on "Detoxification and Biological Support to Fight Cancer." Other doctors, researchers, and nutritionists will speak on a wide variety of non-toxic therapies being used for cancer and other nutritionally-related diseases. Therapies include nutritional, enzyme, chelation, oxygen, herbal, cellular, and electromagnetic. The general and doctors' seminars are both approved for Continuing Education credits. In addition, on September 3 and 6, there will be tours to private cancer clinics in Mexico. The Cancer Control Society, which sponsors the event, provides a $10 information packet jam-packed with reprints of relevant articles, names of patients who have undergone alternative therapies, names of doctors and clinics offering therapies, books describing various treatments, healthy lifestyle changes, a suggested detoxification diet, and lists of known carcinogenic products. For the patient who wants more options and health practitioners who want to become familiar with the alternatives that patients are seeking, this organization plays a critical role. To order the $10 information packet, contact the Cancer Control Society, 2043 N. Berendo, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Phone 213-663-7801. American Botanical Council's Ginseng Evaluation Program In 1993, the American Botanical Council (ABC) initiated a unique study to analyze commercial ginseng products. Results will be published in the Council's quarterly magazine HerbalGram in the autumn of 1997. According to Blumenthal, "This is the most extensive, scientific, and impartial analysis of any herb or dietary supplement ever undertaken by a scientific organization, the industry, or the FDA." Clinical Use of Ginseng The German Commission E Monographs states that ginseng has been used for over 2,000 years as a tonic for "invigoration and fortification in times of fatigue and debility, for declining capacity for work and concentration, also during convalescence." It has no contraindications or known side effects.8 Ginseng was written about as early as the first century A.D. According to Steven Foster, author of the American Botanical Council ginseng booklet, ginseng is the most famous of all Asian medicinal plants. He tells of the First Western description of it in 1709 by Pere Jartoux, a Jesuit missionary. Jartoux describes its consistantly good effect and that those who use it "render themselves more vigorous and strong." Unlike some herbs, ginseng tends to maintain a reasonably stable shelf life. A dozen western European countries already approve ginseng as a nonprescription medicine or a food supplement. According to John Lust, N.D., author of The Herb Book, Asiatic ginseng is held in almost religious esteem by the Chinese and used as a panacea for all ailments, most notably for feverish and inflammatory illnesses, hemor- rhage, and blood diseases. For women, it is used to normalize menstruation and ease childbirth. It is mildly stimulating to the nervous system, promotes both mental and physical vigor, and aids digestion and appetite. American ginseng is shown to have essentially the same ingredients as Asiatic. Wild ginseng has a long history of varied use in the United States, long before we began exporting it to China. Some Native Americans used it to relieve nausea and vomiting. Wild ginseng has been over-harvested here and is now mostly cultivated. Ginseng Product Evaluation Over 400 products in the United States and Canada claim to include ginseng. This study is not for assessing the clinical efficacy of ginseng, but merely to verify the identity and quantity of known active constituents as purported by the manufacturers of the products. The goal of the study is to: * set a standard for future studies * increase consumer confidence in the natural products industry * increase responsibility of claims made by manufacturers In a recent phone interview, Mark Blumenthal, director of the Council, described some of the ambiguities involved in conducting such a test. ABC specifically looked at North American products containing American, Asian, and so-called Siberian ginseng, a different species with similar milder effects. There are a number of plants unrelated to ginseng which are sold using the name `ginseng,' which adds to the confusion. These may be common or popular names of other herbs, which are scientifically inaccurate. Inappropriate uses of the name also occur, sometimes because of the lack of enforcement of standards and regulation of common names. Strict Procedures For Testing Blumenthal explains that strict administrative and testing protocols were used to ensure accuracy and keep the labs from knowing what brand names were being analyzed. ABC purchased products only from retail or other commercial outlets and did not receive any products directly from manufacturers. This reflects what is available in the marketplace. ABC has cash register receipts of all the purchases. Aside from family foundations, the testing was paid for by ginseng growers in Wisconsin, Ontario, British Columbia, the healthfood industry (The National Nutritional Foods Association), and herb manufacturers, with no guarantee that their products would pass muster. Two leading university laboratories did the testing. People conducting the tests were Ph.D.s or higher. Samples were sent to a lab with only a generic label, a code number, and the type of ginseng for which they were testing. The original product is kept under lock and key at ABC. If a product failed to contain what was claimed, another sample was taken from the original and sent to the other lab. If both labs agreed, it was considered confirmation. Blumenthal describes the test as blind, fair, impartial, redundant, and scientific. Since ABC is publishing the results, to be as fair as possible, if the products failed or passed with very low levels of what was claimed as the content, a letter is being sent to the manufacturer inviting a response within thirty days. HerbalGram will publish their response subject only to editing for space. A review of the best clinical studies on ginseng is also planned for the ginseng evaluation issue of HerbalGram. The reviewer will try to draw conclusions as to what therapeutic benefits are suggested or confirmed by those studies. To order a $6.00 sample issue of HerbalGram, No. 41 (Fall 1997) directly from the American Botanical Council, phone 512-331-8868. Membership in their sister organization, The Herbal Research Foundation, is $35 and includes a subscription to HerbalGram and one free herb information packet. Phone 303-449-2265. Best wishes, Barbara June Appelgren 1. C. Caldwell, "The Somatic Umbrella," Bridges 7:1 (1996). 2. J. Stephenson,"A Review of Investigations in the Action of Substances in Dilutions Greater than 1 x 10-24 Microdilutions," Journal of American Institute of Homeopathy 48 (1955):327-35. 3. R.G Gibson, S.L.Gibson, A.D. MacNeill, W.W. Buchanan, "Homeopathic Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evaluation by Double-blind Clinical Therapeutic Trial," British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 9 (1980):453-459. 4. M. Shipley, H. Berry, G. Broster, et al. "Controlled Trial of Homeopathic Treatment of Osteoarthritis," Lancet 1 (1983):97-98. 5. J. Shepperd, "Chaos Theory: Implications for Homeopathy," Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy 87 (1994):22-29. 6. A.N. Delinick, "A Hypothesis on How Homeopathic Remedies Work on the Organism." Berl J Res Homeopath 1 (1991):249-253. 7. G. Resch, "Physical Chemistry of Highly Attenuated Remedies." Proceedings, 42nd Congress of the International Homeopathic League, Washington, pp. 300-304 (1987). 8. M. Blumenthal, ed., The German Commission E Monographs, English translation due to be published in the fall of 1997 by the American Botanical Council.
________________________________________ Advisory Board Members Deborah Crabbe, C.N.M., M.S. Victor B. Eichler, Ph.D. William Gough, M.S. Marc Micozzi, M.D., Ph.D. Joel Shepperd, M.D. Jerry Toporovsky Healing Arts Report is published monthly by Zillah, Inc. Copyright 1997 by Healing Arts Report Mailing address: P.O. Box 1728, Winchester, VA 22601 Editor: BJ Appelgren Publisher: Bruce Appelgren Internet Editor: Mark Schulte Editorial Assistant: Buster Katz Healing Arts Report presents educational health-related information and news only. The material contained herein is intended for general information and should not be construed as medical advice or medical opinions. It does not apply to specific medical conditions, treatments, or other specific factual circumstances. It does not constitute recommendations for self-treatment nor is it intended to replace consultations with qualified medical care providers or information provided by manufacturers or retailers about their products. Decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment are to be made by the reader in the exercise of his or her judgment. The source of all news and information contained herein is provided. Healing Arts Report does not test or otherwise independently verify nor warrant the validity, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or utility of its contents.  |