Medicine That’s Truly Complementary

About a month ago I posted an on this site about the Bay Area media’s lack of coverage of complementary and alternative medicine – a veiled lament, I suppose, that no one was paying attention to a subject that is very much near and dear to my heart.

My original thought was that this is either because the research isn’t credible or that the public isn’t interested in this sort of stuff.  However, given the piles of studies that have been done by well-respected researchers and the billions of dollars being spent by everyday folks on everything from chiropractors to acupuncturists and yoga classes, these assumptions fall flat.

My conclusion, then, was that it’s probably because the media, like so many of us, have been educated to believe that healthcare is largely if not exclusively the domain of drug-based medicine. The extent to which those working in the medical field believe this themselves is another story.

Although I’ve never been one to adopt an “us vs. them” / “alternative vs. conventional” mentality, I’ll admit that sometimes it’s hard not to buy in to the idea that, at the very least, “they” really don’t have much appreciation for “us.”  Imagine my delight, then, when I read the following on the web site of a prominent and very popular (121,000 followers on Twitter!) Bay Area medical doctor:

"If you’re a complementary or alternative medicine provider or some other sort of counselor, coach, or healer, I’m sorry so many physicians respond to what they don’t understand by dismissing you or making you wrong…. I’m sorry you’ve gone to all this trouble to build a relationship with your client, only to have some doctor tear it apart with one ignorant and closed-minded comment. I apologize for that doctor who told your client that what you do is a bunch of valueless woo woo hooey not deserving of their hard-earned money.

"I’m sorry they don’t teach us much about what you do in medical school, and I’m sorry we’re not motivated to learn more so we can better collaborate. I’m sorry we act like we’re “better” than you and lord our medical degrees over you in a misguided attempt to assuage our own insecurities.

"What you do heals. Patients transform. You love. You listen…. It’s no wonder people value what you do, even when insurance companies don’t cover it. Ancient traditions bring great gifts to the healing toolbox we all share. By embracing the scientific method in Western medicine, we’ve made the mistake of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, but you hold the baby. You nurture the baby. And that baby is time, presence, healing touch, and most of all - LOVE.

"I’m so very sorry, dear ones. Thank you for what you do. You round out - and often replace (in a good way) - what we docs do, and we are grateful to anyone who transforms illness, sadness, or trauma into vitality, no matter how it happens. After all, the patient is what matters most, right? Don’t we all share a common goal?

"Thank you for your healing gifts, and please - join us at the healing round table, where we can all be equal partners in the quest to facilitate the healing journeys of those we serve."

As someone who has made it his practice to rely on prayer for his health – not just for myself, but also for those who come to me for healing – I was touched beyond measure by what I read.  

I welcome the invitation to take a seat at “the healing round table” so that doctors, practitioners, and healers alike can all share what we’ve learned in our efforts to bring health and harmony to a world so desperately in need of it.

Even if this collaboration never makes headlines in the local media, it will undoubtedly make a difference in the lives of those who are healed.

This article originally appeared on Blogcritics