http://www.futurehealth.org Tools, information and inspiration to transform yourself and the planet -- to go beyond not sick to optimal health and functioning -- a unique resource for biofeedback, neurofeedback, QEEG, appliedpsychophysiology, consciousness, stress and pain management, consciousness, personal transformation -- a source of cutting edge meetings, information, instruments, systems, books, tapes, supplies, training, and consultation for professionals and consumers alike. en-us Copyright 2013 Thu, 09 May 2013 15:28:05 CDT Thu, 09 May 2013 15:28:05 CDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.futurehealth.org/images/rss_news.gif http://www.futurehealth.org 144 16 http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/To-Do-and-Not-To-Be-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130422-528.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:22:52 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/To-Do-and-Not-To-Be-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130422-528.html I reflect upon the importance of doing, what is called behavioral activation. In order to change, we need to do things differently, and not just think about doing things differently. Unfortunately, conventional medicine has supported a narrative which tells us that we do not have to make an effort to change our behavior, so people who are depressed or anxious don't believe they need to do anything. We need to change this. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-8-of-Australia-2013-B-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130318-661.html Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:35:38 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-8-of-Australia-2013-B-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130318-661.html On the next to the last day of our Australian cross-cultural journey we visit our friend Wayne, who's now the Koorie Liaison Officer for AdvanceTAFE, an educational concern in Victoria. Our focus for the workshop that Wayne arranged for us was to consider how to better use culture to address problems in the community. The problems were the usual suspects -- drugs, alcohol, violence, gambling. What happens under colonization http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-7-of-Australia-2013-H-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130317-172.html Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:07:10 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-7-of-Australia-2013-H-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130317-172.html Day 7 found us working with the Prahran Mission's Hearing Voices Victoria about indigenous and narrative approaches to voices. We demonstrated the use of what I call mind mapping with the various voices we hear inside our minds. This technique works for everyone, voice hearers or not, for we all hear talk inside our heads, the question being where we think it's coming from. In mind mapping we identify the talk and talkers. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-6-of-Australia-2013-H-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130312-589.html Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:07:53 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-6-of-Australia-2013-H-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130312-589.html Day 6 finds us in Melbourne and back from the bush. I include some pictures from the bush. In Melbourne we are doing a presentation with the Hearing Voices Group of Victoria about indigenous approaches to voices. We started the day by explaining our approach to voices which is to give them full ontological status and dialoging with them to learn why they have come and what they want. We did experiential exercises after. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-5-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130312-756.html Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:28:53 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-5-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130312-756.html This third day of our presentations on North American energy medicine was all about energy. We practiced how to move energy through hands on the body, hands above the body, feather fanning, sucking, blowing smoke, drumming, rattling, placing rocks and crystals, and more. We had lunch and then we began our healing free for all. Rocky taught everyone a chant that we sang for three hours. All 49 people got doctored. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-4-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130311-155.html Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:17:16 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-4-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130311-155.html During the fourth day of our Australian cross-cultural journey we continued to present our form of indigenous (Cherokee) bodywork/osteopathy and energy medicine ("doctoring"). The second day focused on how anyone can feel energy differences in other people and within those areas of energy differences, can find points that need rubbing or holding. We showed how these intuitively discoverable points are the same as TCM. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-3-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130311-551.html Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:14:44 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-3-of-Australia-2013-I-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130311-551.html On day 3 of our cross-cultural journey in Australia we are at a camp where we are sharing Native North American concepts of energy medicine, particularly Cherokee bodywork/osteopathy and energy medicine and psychology (aka "doctoring"). We discover again how similar these concepts and practices are to those of indigenous Australia and New Zealand and how all people heal through touching the body and its energy. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-2-of-Australia-2013-S-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130309-266.html Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:39:22 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-2-of-Australia-2013-S-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130309-266.html Today we considered how story can save people's lives. When people are filled with negative stories about being inferior and worthy of humiliation and contempt, they respond accordingly often with substance misuse and violence. The traditional cultural stories of all of our peoples are antidotes to this negativity. By immersing ourselves in our cultural stories, we can turn victimization into recovery and transformation. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-1-of-Australia-2013-T-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130309-995.html Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:25:08 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-1-of-Australia-2013-T-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130309-995.html Each year we make a cross-cultural tour to Australia, though one of our Coyote colleagues comes twice a year to make an impact on incorporating culture in health care for aboriginal people. This year we began with a lecture in a writing conference on the topic of the autobiography in which I describe my experience of writing Coyote Medicine. I finish with a description of what has been accomplished in five years of coming. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/NIMH-and-its-Biologic-Emph-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130124-250.html Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:39:05 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/NIMH-and-its-Biologic-Emph-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-130124-250.html I respond to Dr. Thomas Insel's blog about his views of the top ten advances for mental health for 2012. What saddens me is that all of these advances are heavily biological and that biological medicine hasn't really succeeded very well in improving our mental health. While these advances are very interesting, I argue that what we need is more understanding of how our social relationships form our brains and behavior. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Pain-Part-2-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-121210-694.html Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:55:51 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Pain-Part-2-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-121210-694.html I continue to reflect upon chronic pain, beginning with some comments from my colleague, Peter Blum, who is a hypnotherapist and all around healer-guy in Woodstock, NY, and then leading into some brain science that shows that our brains are changed by the experience of pain and begin to link all kinds of unrelated experiences to that pain so that pain becomes multiply determined by more than just the sensations. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Chronic-Pain-and-Opiates-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-121203-603.html Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:43:24 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Chronic-Pain-and-Opiates-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-121203-603.html I describe my struggle with prescribing opiates for people in chronic pain. My observation has been that my patients on opiates don't seem to be in any less pain than my patients not on opiates, and sometimes they are more grumpy. I explore the literature and learn that prolonged opiate use sensitizes people to feel more pain and that it can also act as a neurotoxin producing neuropathic-like pain, so perhaps not a good idea http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Healing-Camp-Day-1-Introd-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120811-664.html Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:18:23 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Healing-Camp-Day-1-Introd-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120811-664.html In this article, I write about our invention -- Healing Camp. For the next seven days, I am going to describe what we do and how we do it so that others can (hopefully) replicate it. The concept is simple, that people from all levels of training and walks of life can come together and be healing for each other. We will be doing a similar but shorter event in Hartford, CT, the weekend of August 17th. Check Sukhasala website. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Inflammatory-Theory-of-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120801-604.html Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:18:54 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Inflammatory-Theory-of-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120801-604.html In this article, I describe a way of thinking about depression that makes sense of how we collapse from too much stress and from unremitting anxiety and misery. In this theory, eventually life overwhelms our capacity to resist inflammation and it runs away. From August 16th through the 19th, catch me in Hartford, Connecticut, to further discuss these ideas. For details, see http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-High-Cost-of-Medically-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120723-434.html Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:22:02 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-High-Cost-of-Medically-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120723-434.html I write about how the search for the diagnosis for medically unexplained symptoms is an important aspect of what is bankrupting our health care system. We have to solve this problem for manage costs no matter what health care system we have. I acknowledge that some diseases are missed and that some diseases are yet to be found, but suggest that we are much better at findings serious and life threatening illnesses than before. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Health-Care-Costs-and-Schi-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120712-63.html Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:50:58 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Health-Care-Costs-and-Schi-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120712-63.html I reflect on the cost of care for people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia. I muse about a moving lecture by Eleanor Longdon, PhD, who was once a schizophrenic and now is a clinical psychologist. She spoke about her own process at the Hearing Voices Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Eleanor echoed my observations, that the way we manage people who hear voices and suffer this kind of distress is costly and ineffective. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Imagining-a-ReVisioned-Med-by-Deena-Metzger-120531-978.html Thu, 31 May 2012 22:45:33 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Imagining-a-ReVisioned-Med-by-Deena-Metzger-120531-978.html ReVisioning Medicine brings medical doctors and health practitioners together with healers and medicine people as peers to create a new medicine that does no harm to patients, the community or the earth. ReVisioning Medicine is based in relationships and so is an antidote to our alienated culture always at war. Based on the best of medical knowledge in alliance with the wisdom and healing traditions of indigenous people... http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/More-about-Single-Payer-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120520-693.html Sun, 20 May 2012 20:12:30 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/More-about-Single-Payer-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120520-693.html In this article, I continue my musings about single-payer health systems. I share my experiences of working within the Canadian health care system as a physician (family medicine and psychiatry). I describe the back logs we did have and how we got around them, the lack of utilization review, how I could hospitalize anyone at anytime so long as there was a bed open, and how no one pushed me to discharge patients too early. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-Concepts-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120520-320.html Sun, 20 May 2012 19:45:03 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-Concepts-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120520-320.html I attempt to say what a narrative is. It is a telling of something to someone by someone. It may reflect the basic means by which our brains work, the result of a co-evolution of brain and story to allow us to recall the myriad of details necessary for negotiating a social life with the 500 people whom we are capable of knowing. Its shortest form consists of two action clauses that can be sequenced and one orienting clause. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Single-Payer-Health-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120430-421.html Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:45:57 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Single-Payer-Health-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120430-421.html In this article, I look at possible difficulties of implementing single payer health care in the United States. We review studies that show that the difference in health care costs between the U.S. and Canada are due almost entirely to administrative costs. We look at the administrative inefficiencies that already exist in the U.S. and amply them to start a single-payer system, supporting local control of health care. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Self-Sabotage-and-How-Neur-by-Devin-Hastings-120110-405.html Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:52:00 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Self-Sabotage-and-How-Neur-by-Devin-Hastings-120110-405.html Self Sabotage is one of the most destructive forms of self-hypnosis a person can engage in. This article will absolutely help you to 'break the spell' of self sabotage. You really can begin now to banish the feelings of discouragement and despair that so-called "self-sabotage" creates. Start to realistically change your life for the better now! http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Improving-the-Quality-of-H-by-Vijayaraghavan-Pad-110501-893.html Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:47:56 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Improving-the-Quality-of-H-by-Vijayaraghavan-Pad-110501-893.html Faith is essential for healing to take place regardless of the kind of treatment that is actually given. Where there is faith, the feeling is positive and this helps the body's built-in mechanisms of healing. The quality of health care would eventually depend on how well the various aspects of health care are synchronized to supplement and support the central nature of faith and the hidden reality of mind-body-spirit medicine. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Make-Way-for-the-Energy-of-by-Elaine-Seiler-120321-487.html Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:45:19 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Make-Way-for-the-Energy-of-by-Elaine-Seiler-120321-487.html Author and energetics expert Elaine Seiler shares 5 tips For energetic spring clearing. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Debate-Over-Obamacare-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120409-475.html Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:46:44 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Debate-Over-Obamacare-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120409-475.html I offer my views on health care financing. I suggest that we have reached a point as a society in which we are not willing to let people die in hospital waiting rooms who do not have insurance. We even have laws that require hospitals to care for whoever appears regardless of ability to pay even if we do not have any means to remunerate those hospitals. It's time to wake up to the reality that this kind of reality costs. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Problem-Based-Learning-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120326-711.html Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:06:59 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Problem-Based-Learning-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120326-711.html Problem-based learning has become the norm for much of medical education, yet other disciplines are slower to adopt it. I muse about how to integrate PBL (as if is called) into the on-line psychology teaching environment and consider student objections. This essay was prompted by the comments of two students who were strongly opposed to PBL and gave me the opportunity to reflect upon its strengths and weaknesses. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Review-Biofeedback-and-Ne-by-Rob-Kall-120324-12.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:24:42 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Review-Biofeedback-and-Ne-by-Rob-Kall-120324-12.html Biofeedback and neurofeedback have been used very effectively to enhance athletic performance. Many olympic teams have used the approach to win Olympic gold and other major medals. This book is a magnum opus, created by the most respected, most sought after experts in the field. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-14-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120306-326.html Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:01:34 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-14-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120306-326.html Today is the end of the Australian cross cultural adventure. I fly back to the U.S. today and resume ordinary life. I write about the people I met whom I appreciate and what I learned and where we might go next. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-13-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-897.html Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:15:57 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-13-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-897.html Today is Day 13 of the Australian Cultural Exchange Journey for 2012. After a quick morning run, we went to Mission Australia's Youth Forum 2012. We met Nancy Ingram, an elder from the area who attended Harvard University and knew about Vermont. I have a talk about the importance of heroism for adolescents and finding ways for them to be heroic or to save face when they feel they have not been heroic. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-12-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-780.html Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:36:00 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-12-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-780.html Day 12 of the Australian cross cultural exchange journey consisted in our leading an inipi ceremony (sweat lodge) for people associated with Mission Australia. We also learned much about some very exciting projects being conducted by Mission Australia, including the Michael Project, which is an intensive effort to assist homeless people in Sydney, and the Catalyst-Clemente Project, which provides education for disadvantaged. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-11-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-63.html Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:31:42 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-11-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120304-63.html Today is Day 11 of the Australian cultural exchange adventure for 2012. We interacted with Mission Australia in Sydney and were deeply impressed with their services for young people and for homeless adults. They have managed to integrate shelter with education and skills training so that homeless people become able to transition into the work force. One person told us, "I came here a prostitute, and I left an artist." http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-10-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120302-814.html Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:51:08 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-10-of-the-Australian-J-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120302-814.html Today was Day 10 of the journey and was a day for reflection and preparation for the Sydney portion of our trip. We reflected upon what culture camp had meant for people and confirmed that we would come again next year. Then we flew to Sydney and ate a marvelous fish dinner. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-9-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-915.html Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:35:41 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-9-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-915.html Today is Day 9 of the Australian Cultural Exchange Journey for 2012. Related to the constant, driving rain, we mostly talked today We talked about the health care system to which we wished to move and how to get there, especially through changing the socialization of students and giving them new stories about what to expect from others. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-8-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-761.html Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:20:43 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-8-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-761.html This is Day 8 of the Australian cross cultural adventure. Today we went to the heart of the community where the elders from the Northern Territories demonstrated some of their ceremonies and procedures to the community. That included the burning ceremony for healing pain, the smoking ceremony for purification, and spear throwing. On the way back to the island, I interviewed a patient advocate from Western Australia. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-7-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-74.html Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:51:05 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-7-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120229-74.html Today is Day 7 of the Australian journey 2012. We are on Boole Poole in the Lake District of Gippsland. Our sweat lodge ceremony had been rained out the day before, so we prepared to do the ceremony as soon as the rain stopped which happened around 8am. I've written about sweat lodge before, as have others, most notably Bucko, author of The Lakota Sweat Lodge. It was a wonderful experience and then we hear crocodile tales. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-6-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120228-377.html Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:33:32 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-6-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120228-377.html Today is Day 6 of the 2012 Cultural Exchange Adventure in Australia. It was also the first day of culture camp at Boole Poole with the aboriginal coop. The driving rain prevented our crew from Northern Australia from doing much outside. We had planned a sweat lodge ceremony but that was cancelled also due to the rain. So instead, while we tried to stay dry, I interviewed the new doctor at the Coop. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-5-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120227-900.html Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:33:47 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-5-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120227-900.html I describe the fifth day of our journey for cross-cultural exchange. Today was primarily a day of our teaching. The days vary from receiving mostly to giving mostly. We focused on the importance for everyone, regardless of ethnicity or indigenous status to participate in ceremony in such a way as to feel closer to the spiritual dimension and to celebrate what's good and positive about one's life instead of tales of misdeeds. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-4-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-592.html Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:58:14 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-4-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-592.html Day 4 of the Australian Journey finds us in Warburton with Auntie Jennie, an aboriginal elder from Queensland. I discuss the workshop we did together and explore further the concepts that integrate indigenous theories of mind and mental health with the Hearing Voices movement, showing that its founders were thinking indigenously as they approached voices, which appears much more effective than the biomedical approach. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-3-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-438.html Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:48:19 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-3-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-438.html This is Day 3 of the Australian Journey. It's also the second day of the Hearing Voices International Conference in Melbourne in which aboriginal elders and their wisdom for managing voices (and giving the voices full ontological status as potential beings) were showcased. I write about some of the techniques I demonstrated in my workshop for managing voices including guided imagery, dialogue, and theatre. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-2-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-60.html Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:26:11 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-2-of-the-Australian-Jo-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-60.html Day 2 of the Australian Journey for 2012 finds me in Melbourne at the International Hearing Voices conference, attended by aboriginal and non-aboriginal people alike. I present the highlights of the conference including aspects of my keynote address. The conference is unique in that it is organized hy voice hearers and not professionals who treat voice hearers. It is also unique in being upbeat, positive, and full of hope. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-1-Australia-2012-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-11.html Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:44:32 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Day-1-Australia-2012-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120226-11.html This article begins my 2012 Australian journey. I briefly describe my presentation for the day and then go to the meat of what I learned, which is about aboriginal health and disparity statistics in Australia today. Generally, as anyone can imagine, aboriginal people are in terrible shape in Australia -- to my surprise, worse than their counterparts in the USA and Canada. We know the sad state of Indians in the US. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Medical-Writing-the-Heali-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120223-771.html Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:35:46 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Medical-Writing-the-Heali-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120223-771.html This article represents the start of my annual trek to Australia to work with an aboriginal cooperative in Southeastern Australia. The goal is to help them to incorporate their culture into their health care and other human services through cultural exchange with aboriginal North Americans, aboriginal people from the North of Australia where culture is less disrupted, and others from the area. More to come of my 2 weeks! http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/On-the-Nature-of-Afflictio-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120202-92.html Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:24:25 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/On-the-Nature-of-Afflictio-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120202-92.html In this article I wonder about what illness has to offer us. What is the nature of affliction. Is it a thing or is it a doorway, an invitation to make meaning. All illnesses offer us this opportunity. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-after-a-Hypnos-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120109-980.html Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:32:16 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-after-a-Hypnos-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120109-980.html I describe some reflections after co-teaching a hypnosis workshop. Particularly, we look at a person whose story is too large, as big even as the whole United States. How do we work with someone whose story is that large. I describe ways to extract smaller stories, short stories from the large novel, stories that can work within an hour time frame, the usual length of time for mental health or hypnosis encounters. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Mind-body-and-unexplaine-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120106-95.html Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:37:43 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Mind-body-and-unexplaine-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-120106-95.html I describe a woman with a "mystery illness" who has defied the efforts of conventional physicians to diagnose her. She has also been unsuccessful at gaining help from alternative medical practitioners. I show how inflammation is an integrative process which can affect a variety of organs and can be provoked by stress, including the stress of worrying too much. We we can change the underlying process, we can reduce it. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Narrative-Paradigm-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-111231-702.html Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:58:13 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Narrative-Paradigm-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-111231-702.html I write about my enthusiasm for the narrative paradigm for psychotherapy as we enter into 2012. Within this paradigm, we understand that we don't necessarily know the reasons for our actions, but rather we look for the stories that create the roles that guide us to do what we do. We find that people mostly know what needs to change in their lives but have stories that stop them from making those changes. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-on-Teaching-St-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-111204-790.html Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:50:33 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-on-Teaching-St-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-111204-790.html I have the role of being the statistics teacher for a graduate psychology program in which students don't like statistics. I discover my hidden assumptions about students which may be relevant to life and to psychotherapy also. I reflect upon our attitudes toward math in North America and how different that is from Asian cultures. I reflect upon some students' resistance to problem-based learning and what that means. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Add-Is-Not-A-Disease-It-I-by-Brad-Worthley-111108-920.html Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:35:06 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Add-Is-Not-A-Disease-It-I-by-Brad-Worthley-111108-920.html ADD & ADHD are perceived and treated as a disease, but there a many gifts behind the diagnoses. The gift of creativity, inginuity and fearlessness, which is why people with ADD & ADHD make great entrepreneurs. I have embraced the diagnoses and lived an extraordinary life because of it. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/A-Once-In-A-Lifetime-Oppor-by-Rob-Kall-111107-594.html Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:20:32 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/A-Once-In-A-Lifetime-Oppor-by-Rob-Kall-111107-594.html I'm moving toward simpler and smaller. That means getting rid of a lot of what I've accumulated over the years. Over the course of almost 40 years I've built what I believe is one of the largest libraries related to biofeedback and neurofeedback, collecting books, journals, cassette tapes, conference recordings that combine to be a substantial library. It is for sale http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sorcery-For-Scientists-by-lincoln-stoller-111020-883.html Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:20:14 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sorcery-For-Scientists-by-lincoln-stoller-111020-883.html An exhortation to expand your understanding beyond the bounds of reason. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/MIRACLES-ARE-MADE-A-Real-by-Tsara-Shelton-110921-959.html Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:19:27 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/MIRACLES-ARE-MADE-A-Real-by-Tsara-Shelton-110921-959.html In this book,global autism expert, author and mom (mine!) Lynette Louise shares with surprising honesty and humor the many mistakes and learning's that came with guiding three of my four autistic brothers off the spectrum of autism. As an expert she now travels the globe teaching play therapy, family dynamics and neurofeedback to families struggling to understand autism. She writes with passion, understanding and honesty. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Politics-of-Prevention-by-Lynette-Louise-110616-869.html Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:00:33 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Politics-of-Prevention-by-Lynette-Louise-110616-869.html In the unique position of being certified in both holistic and mainstream medicine, Lynette sheds light on the frightening possibilites regarding preventing illness. This is a must read for anyone interested in having access to all the answers regarding their families health! http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Traditional-Chinese-Medici-by-Kathie-Albertson-100509-389.html Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:56:48 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Traditional-Chinese-Medici-by-Kathie-Albertson-100509-389.html Improved patient care depends on holistic measures that resolve health problems and improve patient care. Today, chronic diseases- heart and liver disease, arthritis, stress, fatigue and anxiety are common place ailments. They should not be. With the Health Reform Act, more people will have health care, and that is a good thing. But who is advocating the "health" in "healthcare?" TCM does! 7 reasons to use it for you and your http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Excerpt-from-Coyote-Wisdom-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101031-579.html Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:55:47 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Excerpt-from-Coyote-Wisdom-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101031-579.html This excerpt tells the story of my work with Tiffany, a young woman with cancer who was from the Christian faith and how we used Meister Eckhart as a way to bridge my Native American philosophies with Christianity to create a healing dialogue throughout the course of her cancer. this seems like an important story to me because it shows how we can create healing (meaning and purpose) even when the patient dies. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-upon-transitio-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110907-92.html Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:37:24 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Reflections-upon-transitio-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110907-92.html Just over 2 months ago I left the public mental health sector in New York to transition into private practice in Vermont. This article reflects upon those two months of changes and wonders what we can learn from the type of care available in Vermont compared to New York and from New York's apparent discrimination against paying private practitioners in favor of community mental health centers. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sport-Injuries-Effective-by-Dr-Kathleen-Alber-100713-130.html Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:27:57 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sport-Injuries-Effective-by-Dr-Kathleen-Alber-100713-130.html Acupuncture is clinically proven to accelerate the healing of sports injuries. Integrating Western and Eastern treatment makes the most sense and can fully restore chronic and acute injuries in many cases. You often heal quickly, fully, and with improved performance. Acupuncture is commonly used for a wide variety of injuries. Read how it works and what it treats. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/When-Consciousness-Becomes-by-Vijayaraghavan-Pad-101205-466.html Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:27:32 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/When-Consciousness-Becomes-by-Vijayaraghavan-Pad-101205-466.html Since the structure-consciousness link can work the other way round, one can postulate that changes in consciousness can produce modifications in the gene structure. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Psychology-of-Fantasy-by-Saberi-Roy-100901-178.html Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:27:06 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Psychology-of-Fantasy-by-Saberi-Roy-100901-178.html On the role of the conscious mind in fantasy and studying the uses, functions and stages of fantasy http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Accountability-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110904-246.html Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:00:11 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Accountability-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110904-246.html This essay is about accountability. In the community mental health center where I have been working, most of the patients lack any sense of self-agency or accountability. Most see themselves as helpless victims of diseases over which they have no influence. They expect me to provide them with a drug that will regulate their moods and emotions and make them feel normal again. What does it take to restore a sense of agency? http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sundance-No-2-2011-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110904-227.html Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:15:54 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sundance-No-2-2011-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110904-227.html Barbara and I write this following our second sundance of the season. In this article we contemplate the idea of the sundance as an embodied metaphorical struggle in which the suffering and deprivation encountered are physical metaphors for the suffering of life. The mindset we use to embrace uncertainty matters in everyday life. We do best when we abandon the idea that we can know what is going to happen next. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Thoughts-after-Sundance-20-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110705-197.html Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:03:26 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Thoughts-after-Sundance-20-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110705-197.html I reflect upon Sundance 2011 and what I have learned. I realize that Sundance is about love and compassion and following this red road that leads to these directions. Sundance gives us an opportunity to rise to become spiritual warriors, to find all the benefits and none of the detriments of battle, to create a community of fellow warriors within which we can feel strong, and to transcend our natural limits to become more. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/FAN-Brings-Great-Programs-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110521-477.html Sat, 21 May 2011 23:30:41 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/FAN-Brings-Great-Programs-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110521-477.html Dr. Carol Dweck is one of the most highly-regarded researchers in the field of motivation and learning in the world. Her theories about "growth" and "fixed" mindsets have wide application in many areas, including education, sports, and business -- really, any field that is vested in maximizing human potential. Her work speaks directly to the issues of student success, failure, resilience, motivation and learning. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Neurofeedback-A-Treatment-by-Sebern-Fisher-110424-494.html Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:21:20 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Neurofeedback-A-Treatment-by-Sebern-Fisher-110424-494.html The widespread failure to recognize Reactive Attachment Disorder (to be referred to as RAD) and the lack of understanding of neurofeedback make writing about RAD and neurofeedback a somewhat daunting prospect. It is, however, timely. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sweat-Lodge-Prayer-and-C-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110222-672.html Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:12:24 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Sweat-Lodge-Prayer-and-C-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110222-672.html Prayer and community have been stripped away from contemporary health care. Both are sorely needed. I talk about the sweat lodge ceremony as being a laboratory for exposing mainstream healthcare practitioners to the perspective on health and the world of Native American people and show how it produces the kind of connectedness and sense of belonging that we desperately need and which is associated with greater health. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Symphony-of-Science--The-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110413-144.html Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:07:35 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Symphony-of-Science--The-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110413-144.html Symphony of Science is a music video series that remixes the powerful words of influential scientists and makes them sing about their subjects, through the use of auto-tuning techniques. A Glorious Dawn, garnered an unexpected amount of success and praise and amassed a million views in under a month.Since then, I have released nine videos on topics like evolution, the brain, space exploration, the big bang theory, and more. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Dr-Amy-Banks-on-Keeping-T-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110413-994.html Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:55:34 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Dr-Amy-Banks-on-Keeping-T-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110413-994.html The most important thing to be doing as we age is to keep stimulating those brain cells.Staying engaged in mental activities like reading and learning and communicating with others keeps the brain cells alive and strong.I think people need to be able to maintain community and connections, opportunities to interact.The physiology of healthy relationship contributes to building a brain that is continuing to grow. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Adolescent-Addictions-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110404-612.html Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:00:36 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Adolescent-Addictions-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110404-612.html This weekend I attended an addictions and mental health conference focused upon adolescents in Las Vegas, Nevada. What an appropriate venue! I spoke about narrative practices in relation to addictions -- how we have to counter the dominant stories about magical potions and find other heroic stories that work equally well. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Dick-Bolles--the-most-rec-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110403-890.html Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:11:36 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Dick-Bolles--the-most-rec-by-Joan-Brunwasser-110403-890.html So, a funny thing happened to me, on the way to church. While just trying to help some campus ministers who were hanging on the ropes, I accidentally wrote a best-selling book.I didn't write it to be that.I didn't write it to make money, I only wrote it to be helpful. I didn't know that with its annual revisions (which I required) and with teaching from it all around the world, it would take over my whole life, [since] 1970. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Nanglyala-Mental-Health-Ce-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110330-9.html Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:17:15 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Nanglyala-Mental-Health-Ce-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110330-9.html I write about the composite mental health center I have created in previous essays which comes from my and others' experiences working in mental health in New York State. I call it Nanglyala Mental Health Center, in honor of the Russian word for Valhalla, which one can't use, for it actually exists. I propose a thought experiment in changing the culture at NMHC, which I hope someone somewhere will be inspired to do. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-and-Science-Day-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110323-902.html Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:49:13 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-and-Science-Day-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110323-902.html Today was our last full day in Australia and the occasion for a lecture and series of discussions at the University of Melbourne's Center for International Mental Health and School of Population Health. We explored the bridges between science and the indigenous world view of narrative. Particularly we were impressed with how neuroscience is completely supporting indigenous knowledge about narrative and its importance! http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Power-of-Community-Da-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110322-290.html Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:25:25 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Power-of-Community-Da-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110322-290.html Day 12 of our Australian Journey for cross-cultural exchange in mental health was a low-key day of exchanges about healing in community. We explored the concept that healing cannot occur so easily without involvement of the entire community. Those people to whom we are accountable must agree to allow us to change, or we will not change. We must be invited by the important others in our life to perform a different story. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Clingy-Children-Signals-f-by-Judith-Acosta-110129-853.html Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:43:13 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Clingy-Children-Signals-f-by-Judith-Acosta-110129-853.html Our ability to deal with fear as children is the foundation for the way we deal with fear as adults--both for ourselves and with our kids. Most of us were not raised with these ideas and some of them may feel awkward or even seem unnecessary, especially if we ourselves were dismissed when we were afraid or hurt. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Beyond-Narrative-Therapy--by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110321-620.html Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:08:42 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Beyond-Narrative-Therapy--by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110321-620.html On Day 11, we engaged in dialogue about the narrative therapy of Michael White, which is what most people in Australia and the United States index, when we say narrative practices, and the narrative practices of indigenous people. While we deeply respect Michael White's contributions to psychology and humanity, we present him as one branch on a tree of narrative in which indigenous people live in the trunk and the roots. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Approaches-to-Trauma-in-th-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110319-476.html Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:52:14 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Approaches-to-Trauma-in-th-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110319-476.html Today is Day 10 of the Australian Cross-Cultural Mental Health Journey. Today we talked about trauma in aboriginal communities and how to address that trauma. We collaboratively arrived at some ideas to propose. We agreed that narrativizing is necessary. We need to hear the stories of woundedness that people have to tell and to celebrate their resistance to abuse and to focus more on the resistance than on being a victim. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Implementing-Narrative-Pra-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110318-310.html Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:39:15 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Implementing-Narrative-Pra-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110318-310.html The highlight of Day 9 in our Australian cross-cultural mental health journey was a workshop for indigenous mental health and human service providers on how to make their services more indigenous friendly. This involves, of course, conscious decolonization of our clinical practices. We talked about the need to become more narrative, to listen longer and more deeply to the stories people tell us and to hear stories of others. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrativizing-is-the-first-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110317-370.html Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:27:36 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrativizing-is-the-first-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110317-370.html On Day 8, we asked how do we transform health care to become more indigenous friendly, whether it's mental health care of general medical care. The answer that jumped out was to implement narrative practice. Indigenous cultures are virtually uniformly cultures of story in which stories matter greatly. Being heard means having the opportunity to tell one's stories. "Treatment" begins by hearing and acknowledging stories. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Still-More-Similar-Than-Di-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110316-479.html Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:31:10 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Still-More-Similar-Than-Di-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110316-479.html Today finds us in Day 7 of our Australian Cross-Cultural Mental Health Journey. They lessons of these week have been very consistent -- indigenous from anywhere in the world is more similar than different. An elder proposed an answer for this. He said, "When you listen to the spirits and to nature and show respect, you get the same guidance 'cause spirits talk to each other. They know how the world should go!" http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/More-Indigenous-Similariti-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110315-714.html Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:39:15 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/More-Indigenous-Similariti-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110315-714.html This is Day 6 of the Australian cross-cultural mental health exchange journey. Today we all experienced a form of healing used in the Northern Territories called "burning". They correct usage appears to be, "I burned her and she got well." One doesn't actually get burned, but palm bark is ceremonially placed in the area of an injury or sickness after having been made warm in a fire, accompanied by touch therapy and prayer. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Indigenous-People-are-more-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110314-60.html Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:05:02 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Indigenous-People-are-more-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110314-60.html Today is Day 5 of our Australian cross-cultural mental health adventure. We traveled from Melbourne to an aboriginal owned island which has ancient sites and is in the Gippsland Lakes. The take home message for the day came from a Gunnai-Kurnai aboriginal man at the end of the day, who said, "Indigenous people are more similar all over the world than they are different." He had the final word for the day, which is so true. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Intergenerational-and-Hist-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110313-34.html Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:48:01 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Intergenerational-and-Hist-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110313-34.html We continue our Australian cross-cultural mental health journey for day 4. Today's topic was intergenerational and historic trauma. In an inter-faith context we talked about the need for the suppressed stories to be told. We talked about epigenetics, which is the way in which the trauma of the ancestors are genetically transmitted across as many as four generations, if not more. We discussed the need to tell these stories. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Acupuncture-and-Chinese-He-by-Dr-Kathleen-Alber-100908-60.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:50:22 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Acupuncture-and-Chinese-He-by-Dr-Kathleen-Alber-100908-60.html Traditional Chinese medicine includes acupuncture and the use of Chinese herbs formulated specifically or your condition. For 5000 years, gynecology related conditions have been effectively treated with the use of TCM. Learn how TCM treats these gynecolody disorders. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Brains-Babies-and-Verbal-by-Judith-Acosta-110128-773.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:49:35 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Brains-Babies-and-Verbal-by-Judith-Acosta-110128-773.html When we have rapport and learn the basics of Verbal First Aid, we can take our children from crisis to calm, from pain to comfort. Our relationship with them and the words we use can lead them to a healing response not only in the moment but in the fullness of their entire lives. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Eqalitarian-Healing-or-Wh-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101205-464.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:48:49 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Eqalitarian-Healing-or-Wh-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101205-464.html Vygotskyan ideas are useful to explain a concept my colleagues and I are developing for egalitarian healing. We are working to undermine the expert professional/defective client model and to put those who help people and those who are helped on a more equal footing. Vygotskyan theory helps us understand how to do this. Vygotsky describes a More Knowledgeable Other concept in which this Other can teach learner missing skills http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Imaging-and-doing-are-not-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110104-816.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:47:57 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Imaging-and-doing-are-not-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110104-816.html Contemporary neuroscience has shown us that imagining an act and performing an act are virtually the same. We can strength our muscles almost as much by imagining exercising as by exercising. If mind is so powerful, why aren't we harnessing it for the good. I fear that mostly we allow it to run for the bad, imagining ourselves in any number of dire straights and illnesses, instead of imagining ourselves hale as we should. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Rescue-When-is-it-Unethic-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110222-685.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:47:13 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Rescue-When-is-it-Unethic-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110222-685.html An under explored ethical area is that of what Michael Ortiz Hill, in his marvelous new book, The Craft of Compassion, has called professional narcissism. This is when we need our clients to get well for our own needs. Of course, we want to think that we are effective and can help people, but the more we think this way and the less we think of dialogical resolution where each contributes to the outcome, the more harm we do. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Narrative-Interview-D-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110312-478.html Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:33:37 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Narrative-Interview-D-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110312-478.html Today finds us on Day 3 of our Australian cross-cultural journey. Our focus today is on the narrative interview. How would we interview people if our focus was to elicit their story instead of making a conventional DSM diagnosis. I interview a woman who has been suffering for 12 years and who has finally been offered an antidepressant medication. I show how her suffering can be rendered intelligible through narrative. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Suicide-and-Mental-Health-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110311-377.html Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:12:14 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Suicide-and-Mental-Health-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110311-377.html Lewis and Coyote Institute are on Day 2 of an Australian journey which is a cross-cultural exchange about ideas for mind and mental health. Today we focused upon suicide which elders told us was rare in Australia prior to European contact, but now, all to common. We focused upon suicide as a modern non-indigenous template for the communication of suffering which sometimes backfires leading to accidental death. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Coyotes-and-Reclaiming-Ind-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110310-845.html Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:51:25 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Coyotes-and-Reclaiming-Ind-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110310-845.html Three of us from Coyote Institute have journeyed to Australia to consult with a local aboriginal group on how to incorporate local culture into their health care and other services. This is the first in a series of daily blogs about the trip. I begin by wondering about coyote as a symbolic muse, an animal who lives at the margin and is currently expanding its territory. We discuss templates for the expression of pain. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Larger-Stories-of-Educ-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110201-866.html Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:07:42 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Larger-Stories-of-Educ-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110201-866.html Art and play are important in psychology and psychology education. I use the opportunity of attending the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology annual meeting to speculate about the future of psychology education and to ponder the effects of for-profit institutions on education. I suggest that for-profit education can only be mediocre because real education aspires to creativity and for-profit standardizes. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/An-Alternative-to-Big-Phar-by-Judith-Acosta-110129-513.html Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:07:10 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/An-Alternative-to-Big-Phar-by-Judith-Acosta-110129-513.html The following is a journey through several psychotherapy cases, how they may be seen in a homeopathic framework, and how healing can be enjoyed in a relatively brief period of time. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/BCIA-Trademarks-Logo-and-C-by-press-release-110210-167.html Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:06:51 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/BCIA-Trademarks-Logo-and-C-by-press-release-110210-167.html The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, formerly the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA), has filed applications to trademark terms that refer to Board certification in biofeedback. BCIA certifies professionals in Biofeedback, Neurofeedback, and Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction Biofeedback. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Clinic-Restructuring-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101114-105.html Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:27:53 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Clinic-Restructuring-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101114-105.html I work part-time in a community mental health center in New York. Recently New York's Office of Mental Health has restructured clinical services. I write about what that has meant for quality of care, which inevitably goes down. I argue that this is inevitable in a "fee-for-service" system. I argue that the alternative is to pay physicians to care for panels of people and to do the best job as they see fit for these people. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Psychology-of-Family-by-Saberi-Roy-101118-18.html Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:27:13 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Psychology-of-Family-by-Saberi-Roy-101118-18.html On the need to study family structures and family interactions in the Psychology of Family http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/What-we-can-learn-from-Tuc-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110117-201.html Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:25:02 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/What-we-can-learn-from-Tuc-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-110117-201.html The recent tragedy in Tucson has led some commentators to demand more inpatient beds, easier commitment laws, and forced treatment with medication. I argue that none of this would have stopped Mr. Loughner, since he had not come to anyone's attention yet. We need to refrain from overreacting and further stigmatizing the mentally ill, who are, by and large, not violent, and we need to think about ways to reach out more. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Hearing-Voices-and-Seeing-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101210-528.html Sun, 19 Dec 2010 08:31:05 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Hearing-Voices-and-Seeing-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101210-528.html Once upon a time, in most of the world's societies, hearing voices and seeing visions was honored and desired. In contemporary, modern culture it has become the one symptom that allows an immediate diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. In this essay, I write about the downside of pathologizing voices, while still acknowledging that many people suffer enormously from voices and negative visions. I describe how to be healing. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Celiac-Blues-and-Greens-by-Dr-Cheryl-Pappas-101020-487.html Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:46:34 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Celiac-Blues-and-Greens-by-Dr-Cheryl-Pappas-101020-487.html Celiac disease,invisible, undiagnosed, could be playing havoc with your physical and mental well-being. Learn to listen to your body and you can heal it. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Why-Learn-Neuroscience-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101021-100.html Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:43:20 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Why-Learn-Neuroscience-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101021-100.html A student asked me why she needed to know neuroscience. Here is my answer. I argue that science is the new story with which we must contend. If we do not know the contemporary stories of science, they will be used against us. The actual stories being told today about the brain are quite uplifting, full of hope. They include neuroplasticity and epigenetics. If we know these stories we can fight against bad neuroscience. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/What-health-treatment-syst-by-Kathie-Albertson-100425-745.html Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:21:04 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/What-health-treatment-syst-by-Kathie-Albertson-100425-745.html Acupuncture and herbal medicine holds secrets to returning you to your optimum vitality. Do you want to feel dramatically physically and emotionally better? Then Acupuncture and herbal medicine is for you. Here's 4 Reasons Why: http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-Interviewing-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101031-539.html Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:20:11 CST http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Narrative-Interviewing-and-by-Lewis-Mehl-Madrona-101031-539.html In this article, I talk about the importance of finding the stories behind behaviors that are adverse to health. Health behavior is not rational, but is guided by stories that people have about how life should be lived. Many times they do not realize what these stories are, since they are from their earlier years and are so ingrained as to be outside awareness. I show how changing story allows people to change diet. http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Are-Cell-Phones-and-Wi-Fi-by-Hyla-Cass-101017-959.html Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:37:47 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Are-Cell-Phones-and-Wi-Fi-by-Hyla-Cass-101017-959.html The latest form of environmental pollution -- and one that industry, government and wireless consumers don't like to acknowledge -- may be the most devastating threat to health yet: electromagnetic fields (EMFs). http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Natural-Solutions-To-Sleep-by-Hyla-Cass-100630-850.html Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:23:58 CDT http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/Natural-Solutions-To-Sleep-by-Hyla-Cass-100630-850.html I'm seeing increasing numbers of patients with sleep problems, ranging from difficulty in falling asleep, to being unable to sleep soundly through the night. Rather than waking up in the morning restored and rejuvenated, they are dragging themselves out of bed, facing another day feeling drained and exhausted.