Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine; a practioners perspective

[Guest guest]

Dear Luke,

 

I read your letter about trying to integrate holistic healing into the corporate

medical system. I am in full agreement. I have been in practice for over 20

years as an herbalist and teacher of integrative herbology - using Western herbs

with the more holistic view as taught in

Chinese and Ayurvedic systems. Just like your clinic, our school is also

successful because we are focusing it on the current " new American Patient " as

coined by Paul Bergner. i.e.: over stimulated, deficient, toxic, sleep deprived,

over medicated folks.

 

I have been composing an essay refuting the idea that we are " complementary "

therapies. I personally cannot complement a medical practice that states such

things as, " if more that 8 minutes is spent with a client then it becomes

financially non viable. " In my clinic I spend at

least 2 hours with the client on the first visit. People need to be taught

proper lifestyle to keep themselves in balance. This is where classes,

education, extensive interviews and so forth can be so valuable for those who

truly want to take an active and mindful path to living

and healing.

 

Maybe we should call ourselves " mitigating therapies " rather than

" complementary " when used within the context of Western pharmaceutical

protocol. Most often in my herb clinic I have had to try to undo or rebalance

what has occurred due to wrong medicinal procedures. ( My

teacher once said that the herbalist was at the bottom of the barrel- after all

the other treatments have been explored then people want herbs. This is a

difficult position!) We must remember, even though certain medicines may be

needed for a period of time due to the severity

of a condition, these medicines do not have any nutritional value and the side

effects of even the most " benign " drug are frightening when viewed in the PDR.

Also, when herbs are used as a replacement for proper lifestyle then we are in

trouble then also. For example, the St.

John's wort hype. Taking St. John's wort won't work when someone is having a

Standard American Diet (SAD) and drinking coffee and aspartame laced drinks. The

depression is most likely due to mineral and nutritional deficiency and maybe

watching the TV too much. I also think that

this journey into holistic medicine may not be for the masses. It is a path that

require active rather than passive participation.

Candis Cantin Packard, AHG

 

Luke Klincewicz wrote:

 

> Hello, one and all,

>

> ...take a few days off and WOW...!

>

> Julie, two points: when treating a patient for whatever condition, be it

> tooth pain or cancer, it is often best to go in blind, feel the pulses, get

> a feel for the person, ignore the patterns and recommended suggestions and

> do your thing. It is not unlike playing jazz piano. You spend years

> studying scales, and scales and more scales, harmony and theory, till you

> finally find yourself on stage, and then the weights are lifted and you fly

> like a butterfly. Reason is good training; medicine is an Art.

>

> Regarding integrative medicine, whether in- or out- patient, the goals of

> allopathic and non-allopathic medical procedures have differed radically

> since the advent of penicillin and especially after world war II. Research

> is currently motivated by profit. That which can not be patented is

> " quackery " , whether it comes from the fields of aromatherapy, TCM, Reiki, or

> homeopathy, etc....

>

> I spent over a year in an integrative medical clinic and found it to be

> enormously frustrating! Many of these initiatives are founded with profit

> in mind (welcome to corporate America!). Some corporate genius decides to

> incorporate " non-traditional " therapies into the program because he/she has

> read that 1/3 of Americans seek health care outside beyond that offered by

> their allopathic doctors. He/she sees dollar signs and so the token massage

> therapist, nutritionist, acupuncturist is added to the " complementary "

> health care process.

>

> [isn't it about time that we insist that our methods are " traditional " and

> that it is allopathic post-Fleming medicine that is alternative?]

>

> In a truly mind-expanding work, entitled _Medical Aromatherapy; Healing with

> Essential Oils_, Kurt Schnaubelt examines the issues of medicine and

> corporate profit and furthermore how these motivations effect research and

> what is and is not accepted....

>

> This is the reality of corporate-sponsored medicine in the USA. Funding for

> research comes from, and therefore is directed by those with vested

> (financial) interests. The bottom line is " that which generates maximum

> profit for share-holders is gold " and therfore pursued....

>

> My advice to anyone wanting to practise in an allopathic setting is to " do

> it " . The experience is invaluable. It has become a litmus test of sorts.

> My experience is that true healers walk away....

>

> The human body is " not " a machine.

>

> I have a cartoon depiction on my door. It shows an insurance agent giving

> his (and in this case, it is a " he " , rather than " she " , as Western Medicine

> is ultimately male-dominated) analysis of what is or is not medically

> necessary.

>

> One of my MD friends was reprimanded because he was spending more than 12.5

> minutes per patient....

>

> My degree is that of a doctor [OMD]. But my practise director at AWH,Inc.

> had no pangs of conscience when he told me to run out and get lunch.... To

> him, my place was equvalent to that of an errand boy....

>

> Until we can respect ourselves as true doctors, and perhaps this requires a

> deeper education, (in my case, this is 14 years of post-secondary education

> including, yes, ...sorry..., physics, and biochemistry, microbiology,

> genetics, physiology, etc...), we will be relegated to that oblique realm of

> other practitioners....

>

> We live and practise in the United States of America and not in China. Our

> diets are different. Our life-styles are different. My practise is

> thriving because I have realized this reality and perhaps because I have

> moved away from the relic of corporate misunderstandings.

>

> Challenge makes adults of us all. The predominant question is not one of

> what is legal but what is right!

>

> Back to the question at hand, in a (Western) medical setting, we,

> acupuctuncturists, massage therapists, herbalists, practitioners of

> bioenergy fall outside the profit margins. Insurance companies, often

> working along side pharmaceutical companies, predominantly decline

> reimbursement for non-allopathic treatments. Allopathic physicians are

> often understanding but impotent in this regard. They are facing the same

> inhumane and profit motivated economic forces.

>

> I suppose its a question of attitude, intention, and attention...

>

> God(s) save us all!

>

> Health and happiness,

>

> luke

>

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