Lewis Mehl-Madrona: How we treat is more important than the treatment! The way we relate to people is more important than what we do in both medicine and psychiatry. Randomized, clinical trials of the drug, citalopram, for geriatric depression, for example, showed that where a patient got treated mattered more than what drug they received. The response rate to citalopram varied from 16% to 82% among 15 hospitals. The time is nigh to improve the human elements in what we do be more helpful. 2 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Day 6 of Australia 2013: Hearing Voices 1 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.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Pain, Part 2 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.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Day 12 of the Australian Journey 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.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Medical Writing: the Healing Power of Narrative 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!

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Excerpt from Coyote Wisdom Chapter 10 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.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Thoughts after Sundance 2011 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. 1 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Suicide and Mental Health: Australia Journey Day 2 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. 1 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Coyotes and Reclaiming Indigenous Knowledge 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.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: One Road, Many Branches This article builds upon my past two weeks of talking about Indian identity. It is written on the sundance grounds as I prepare for purification and for this season's sundance. I talk about the way that the drug and alcohol treatment movement brought ceremony and ritual into the lives of both Indians and non-Indians. People discovered the power of the Red Road. Ethnic boundaries disappeared in the welcome for all people.

Rob Kall: The Self-Transforming Brain; Excerpt from Buddha's Brain; The practical neuroscience of happiness, love and wisdom What flows through your mind sculpts your brain. Thus, you can use your mind to change your brain for the better--which will benefit your whole being, and every other person whose life you touch. This book aims to show you how. You'll learn what the brain is doing when the mind is happy, loving, and wise.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Modern Day Shamanism Summary: The word "shamanism" has become very popular. But what does it mean and why do traditional North American deplore this word. Traditional healers are accountable to their communities. Others in the anonymous society must face regulation and must prove that they are more beneficial than harmful. The word shaman is no doubt here to stay, but there is an advantage to resisting it in that it brings to attention the di

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: The Miracle of Peacefulness Unfortunately, miracles cannot be guaranteed or produced on demand. What is more certain is our ability to cultivate a sense of peacefulness and meaning even in the face of illness. This is miraculous in itself given today's world and medical culture. So many people sit namelessly, faceless and alone on nursing home floors, passing the time before death.

Ben Dench: The ADPAS Categories A discussion of the four quadrants of the Angyal-Dench Paradigm Assessment Schemata.

Grant Lawrence: The Bodhisattva's Vow: Moving Past the Prison of the 'Self' The Bodhisattva, to me, is a state of being and not a concept that is owned by any particular religion or sect. Rather,"What makes someone a Bodhisattva is her or his dedication to the ultimate welfare of other beings, as expressed in the prayer: 'May I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings'."