Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

Front Matter

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Unconfessing Transgender: Dysphoric Youths And The Medicalization Of Madness In John Gower’S “Tale Of Iphis And Ianthe”, M W. Bychowski

Accessus

On the brink of the twenty-first century, Judith Butler argues in “Undiagnosing Gender” that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) defines the psychiatric condition of “Gender Identity Disorder” (or “Gender Dysphoria”) in ways that control biological diversity and construct “transgender” as a marginalized identity. By turning the study of gender away from vulnerable individuals and towards the broader systems of power, Butler works to liberate bodies from the medical mechanisms managing difference and precluding potentially disruptive innovations in forms of life and embodiment by creating categories of gender and disability.

Turning to the brink of the 15 …

Pregnancy And Childbirth Practices Among Immigrant Women From India: “Have A Healthy Baby”, Rama Cousik, M. Gail Hickey

The Qualitative Report

In India, practices relating to pregnancy, childbirth and child development have been rooted in cultural beliefs and traditions that are based on knowledge contained in ancient Indian texts. Many Indians residing across the globe continue to observe these practices. Some may find it challenging to do so when they are residing abroad, away from familiar surroundings and separated from their extended families. A small body of research exists that shows that migrant Indian women do observe traditional maternal practices based on cultural beliefs, but there is a need to learn more about how this knowledge is acquired, disseminated and preserved. …

Breaking Down Barriers: The Intersection Of Medicine And Faith, Kaitlyn Lindgren, Ashley Kethcart

Honors Program: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

While medicine and faith are often presented as contradictory concepts, the two play complementary roles in people's health. Christian prayer and Buddhist meditation practices have an impact on health, as well as alternative forms of medicine. These influences can work in tandem to increase the mental and physical health of all people and also demonstrate that science and faith need not always be in opposition.

Harnessing The Placebo Effect: A New Model For Mind-Body Healing Mechanisms, Gabriel Crane

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The placebo effect is a phenomenon that has confounded Western medicine and research for over sixty years. While the field has historically and continues to be rife with misconceptions and confusion, recent research aims to reignite the art of medicine by turning the effect's underlying mechanisms to therapeutic benefit. However, researchers may not have the appropriate theoretical framework to do so. While significant progress has been made in identifying a number of the placebo effect's underlying mechanisms, conceptual deficiencies hinder application of advances in the field. In part, this is because the placebo effect unearths a number of problematic philosophical …

Considerations And Caveats For The Use Of Placebo Responses In Clinical Care: Minding The Matter Of Mechanisms–And Morality– In Medical Treatment, James Giordano

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Music Therapy As Procedural Support For Young Children Undergoing Immunizations: A Randomized Controlled Study, Olivia S. Yinger

Music Faculty Publications

Background: Children undergoing routine immunizations frequently experience severe distress, which may be improved through music therapy as procedural support.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine effects of live, cognitive-behavioral music therapy during immunizations on (a) the behaviors of children, their parents, and their nurses; and (b) parental perceptions.

Methods: Participants were children between the ages of 4 and 6 years (N = 58) who underwent immunizations, their parents (N = 62), and the nurses who administered the procedure (N = 19). Parent/child dyads were randomly assigned to receive music therapy (n = 29) …

Comparing Textbooks From Entry-Level Courses In Music Therapy And Related Health Professions, Alexandria Langella

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Music therapists often co-treat with other therapists from related professions, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology. In order to co-treat effectively and obtain referrals for music therapy services, it is important that other professionals have an awareness of the profession of music therapy. University-level professional training program courses are one place where health care professionals may learn about music therapy. The purpose of this study was to see if required textbooks used in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology entry-level courses in Kentucky contain references to music therapy, and if the required textbooks used in music therapy …

Travel Tales: The Role Of Storytelling In Abroad Experience And Healing, Colleen N. Mcmurray

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper examines the perceived effectiveness of storytelling in the healing process. It aims to answer the question: What role does storytelling play in the healing of returning travelers? The study was conducted by analyzing forty digital videos, categorizing themes, and analyzing the themes in relation to themes found within several articles about the power and effects of storytelling. Five principal themes were used from the data collected. The themes were then used to gain a deeper understanding of how storytelling makes the storyteller feel and how storytelling can be used for healing. The author of this paper has …

Mala Lā’Au Lapa’Au: Preserving The Hawaiian ‘Āina And Mo’Omehue, Sandra Fogg

Senior Honors Projects

The study of medicinal plants in the western world tends to focus on the isolation and elucidation of natural products that have bioactive characteristics and potential for pharmaceutical formulation. However, the utilization of medicinal plants in cultures that still practice ancient medicine, such as Hawai’i and other Pacific Island nations, involves the use of whole plant parts in conjunction with spiritual rituals to heal illnesses and ailments. In order to gather a different perspective of the use of plants in medicine, a diverse investigation of “Lā’au Lapa’au,” or the Hawaiian art of healing through the use of plants and spiritual …

Illness And God's Will, John Sherret

Senior Honors Theses

Originally, God never put sickness on people. After the fall, the early history of man as recorded in the Bible further demonstrates Him refraining to use sickness. However, once the law was instituted God began to use sickness as a punishment. In the Old Testament, sickness was always defined as a curse and never a blessing. It was used by God to curse people for disobeying the law. In the New Testament, God was seen healing the multitudes instead of cursing them. Through the atonement of Jesus, believers have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Healing …

Mind Within The Body The Presence And Importance Of Mental Health Within Traditional Tibetan Medicine, Reta Flynt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this Independent Study Project was to identify aspects of mental health within the traditional Tibetan medical system that are both taught in the classroom and carried out in clinical practice, with a primary focus on the importance of maintaining mental health. Throughout the research process, aspects of illness etiology, diagnosis, treatment processes, and influence from Tibetan Buddhism were found to be deeply connected in maintaining mental health within patients of Traditional Tibetan medicine. As well, much emphasis was found on the mind's influence on the physical wellbeing of an individual, suggesting that mental and physical health are …

The Folklore Of Herbs, Lisa Karen Miller

DLPS Faculty Publications

Take a walk through the herb gardens of history and find out what our ancestors knew (and thought they knew) about herbs and their uses for medicine, beauty, and even love. The presentation compares ancient beliefs to current scientific evidence and reveals the places where they intersect.

The Coca Plant And Bolivian Identity, Matthew G. Russo

International ResearchScape Journal

ABSTRACT

The political battle rages between the U.S. government, the U.N. and the Bolivian President, Evo Morales, about his efforts to protect, legalize and preserve the symbol of the Andean indigenous identity: the coca plant. The human rights of indigenous populations are being violated by culturally insensitive governments in compliance with U.S. and U.N. law. The questions posed are: Is coca cocaine? What are the economic benefits of the production of coca and who benefits? What is the relationship between coca and Bolivian identity? What would be the impact in the global community if coca is eradicated permanently?

Calling Science Pseudoscience: Fleck’S Archaeologies Of Fact And Latour’S ‘Biography Of An Investigation’ In Aids Denialism And Homeopathy, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

Fleck’s Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact foregrounds claims traditionally excluded from reception, often regarded as opposed to fact, scientific claims that are increasingly seldom discussed in connection with philosophy of science save as examples of pseudo-science. I am especially concerned with scientists who question the epidemiological link between HIV and AIDS and who are thereby discounted—no matter their credentials, no matter the cogency of their arguments, no matter the sobriety of their statistics—but also with other classic examples of so-called pseudo-science including homeopathy and other sciences, such as cold fusion. The pseudo-science version of the demarcation problem turns …

Assessing Spirituality Among Hospice Patients: A Phenomenological Study Of Hospice Nurses, Isabel Esther Kaufman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The shift in health care and nursing philosophy and practice from a holistic approach to a highly technological, cure-oriented approach has been attributed to effective pharmaceuticals made to prolong life. Recently medical professionals have shifted their focus to a combination of spiritual healing and medicine. Hospice care in particular have taken a key interest in integrating spirituality within their health care. The problem is that due to the complications in defining spirituality and appropriate training and education of spirituality within nursing curriculum, assessing patients' spiritual distress may be difficult for many hospice nurses which may be at a loss when …

Journal Cover And Front Matter

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

The Santa Clara Strength Of Religious Faith Questionnaire (Scsorf): A Validation Study On Iranian Muslim Patients Undergoing Dialysis, Amir H. Pakpour, Thomas G. Plante, Mohsen Saffari, Bengt Fridlund

Psychology

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) is an often used and validated scale that is uncommonly utilized in culturally diverse populations. The purpose of this research investigation was to adapt the SCSORF for use among Iranian Muslim patients undergoing dialysis and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale among this population. A total of 428 patients (228 females, 200 males, M age = 52.2 years, SD = 10) were selected from five dialysis center in Tehran and Qazvin, Iran. A comprehensive forward–backward translation system was used for cross-cultural translation. Patients completed a baseline questionnaire obtaining …

The Efficacy Of Music As A Non-Analgesic Method Of Reducing Pain Perception During Cold Pressor Trials, Amanda Lynn Ziemba

Masters Theses

The purpose of this project was to investigate the impact of differentiated onset of self-selected music on pain perception and pain tolerance during a cold pressor test. Subjects participated in four trials during which music was presented at different points of time in relation to their exposure to the cold pressor test. Results indicated that listening to music prior to and concurrently with the onset of the pain resulted in lower self-reported pain (F(3, 66) :3.25, p < .05). Behavioral results indicated that subjects were able to tolerate an average of 25s longer (F(2.04,44.81): I.56,p > .05.) when music was presented after the onset of painful stimuli. Both results have positive implications for the clinical use of music as …

Medicine And Doctoring In Ancient Mesopotamia, Emily K. Teall

Grand Valley Journal of History

Medicine and pharmaceuticals in Mesopotamia during the span of c. 3000-1000 BCE were more sophisticated than many ancient and modern scholars from other cultures would concede. The limited historical evidence in the form of cuneiform texts and the complementary archaeological material allow for medical practice in this long time span to be examined as a whole. There were two dichotomous traditions of healing present in ancient Mesopotamia, one more therapeutic and one more religious; they were non-competitive and both considered reputable and essential. The therapeutic tradition is given a closer examination in order to provide a picture of how pharmaceutical …

Herbal And Holistic Medicine In Latin America, William H. Lyle

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A variety of herbal and holistic remedies were used in pre-Columbian cultures, especially in Aztec and Incan cultures. Many different herbs were used to provide medical attention to patients directly, while other herbs were used to supplement shaman^[1] medicine, which was particularly common in Inca culture. While there is little scientific basis for shamanism, as a viable healing option in modern culture, most herbal remedies had active chemical ingredients that could be or are used today to treat similar symptoms, and, in some cases, are being applied in different scenarios as well. The methods of usage, active chemicals, and …

History Of Women And Alternative Medicine, Megan Eineke

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Alternative medicine has been used all over the world for centuries. From meditation to hydrotherapy, both men and women practice these modalities. Alternative medicine is an important part of the history of medicine and women have played a crucial role in traditional medical and other healing-related careers. This research project examines health activism among feminists and how that has played a role in what alternative medicine has become today. Information gathered from journals, articles, books, and biographies will be used to create a timeline to share how and when specific events and women influenced the reemergence of alternative medicine and …

Start With The Heart, Michael A. Steiner

Selected Honors Theses

There is something happening in the chapel services of Southeastern University, the largest Assemblies of God university in America. The question is, is it orthopathy? The goal of this thesis is to determine if 1st Chapel consistently provides the space for students to be engaged in Orthopathy in such a way that their affections are changed from egocentricism to theocentrism. To prove this, the first goal will be to establish what Orthopathy is both historically and theologically, something which has never been fully accomplished in the academic world. This will include defining what a proper transformational experience with the Holy …

An Anatomical, Biochemical, Biophysical And Quantum Basis For The Unconscious Mind, James L. Oschman, Maurie D. Pressman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article suggests that it may now be possible to develop some theoretical and experimental bases for organic substructures involved in psychological phenomena including the unconscious. Our inquiry arose from mutual interest in the mechanisms involved in peak athletic and artistic performances and in deep therapeutic encounters. We are referring to a state of consciousness is often described by performers as “the zone.” This is a state in which individuals or groups function at an extraordinary level of perception and coordination; or a state in which therapists develop a deep connection with their clients’ repressed feelings or traumatic memories. Here …

The Seasons Of Wellbeing As An Evolutionary Map For Transpersonal Medicine, Donald M. Epstein, Simon A. Senzon, Dan Lemberger

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The four Seasons of Wellbeing (Discover, Transform, Awaken, and Integrate) refer to distinct rhythms, periods, and factors that influence the accessibility of an individual’s resources during the journey of life. Each season is explicitly and implicitly related to an individual’s experience, focus, and capacity for self-organizational states. Each can be used to understand, organize, and foster behavior change, positive growth, transformation, and human development. A genealogy of the seasons is described, emphasizing the empirical and theoretical foundations of Reorganizational Healing and its roots in models such as Grof ’s Systems of Condensed Experiences (or COEX Systems) and Wilber’s Integral Theory …

A Possible Mechanism Of Action For The Placebo Response: Human Biofield Activation Via Therapeutic Ritual, Marie G. Brook, Randy Fauver

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The lack of an identified mechanism of action for the placebo response contributes to its perception as clinically unimportant in Western medicine and minimizes its value as a contributing factor to the effectiveness of both conventional and alternative medical treatments. The therapeutic ritual is one of the principle contributors to the placebo response. Two key elements predicting salutogenic outcomes in both the placebo response and therapeutic ritual are patient meaning making and the patient/healer relationship. A detailed examination of human biofield dynamics shows its role in storing, communicating, and regulating the flow of information associated with healing in Western and …

Ayurvedic Psychology: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science, Daniel Rhoda

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Ayurveda is a holistic medical system based on ancient Indian texts that utilizes natural treatments, botanical medicines, and lifestyle and dietary practices to promote healing of the body, mind, senses, and spirit. Interest in Ayurveda has grown in the United States over the last two decades, as consumers, therapists, scientists, and health regulators have recognized its holistic and preventative benefits. According to Ayurveda, every human being is composed of a unique proportion of these elemental energies, a foundational theory in Ayurveda known as tridosha. The three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) represent three psychobiological constitutional types that govern …

Introduction To Special Topic Section: Toward A Transpersonal Medicine, Randy Fauver

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Spontaneous/Radical Remission Of Cancer: Transpersonal Results From A Grounded Theory Study, Kelly A. Turner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This grounded theory study aimed to collect hypotheses for spontaneous or radical remission (RR) of cancer, which is a remission that occurs without medical treatment, or with medical treatment considered inadequate to produce the remission. Interviews were conducted with 20 RR survivors and 50 non-conventional healers from 11 countries. Results showed that three underlying beliefs emerged: 1. Cancer thrives under certain conditions; 2. Illness represents blockage; and 3. A body-mind-spirit interaction exists. Six factors believed to be possible causes of RR also emerged: 1. Diet change; 2. Deepening spirituality; 3. Increasing happiness; 4. Releasing suppressed emotions; 5. Taking supplements; and …

Transpersonal Healing: Assessing The Evidence From Laboratory And Clinical Trials, Marilyn Schlitz

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Transpersonal or distant healing intention (DHI) is one of the most commonly used forms of complementary and alternative healing. While it is popular, its efficacy is uncertain and the mechanism of action unclear. This article provides an overview of both the laboratory research and clinical trials of DHI, summarizing the state of the field. There appears to be support, based on controlled laboratory studies, for a transpersonal dimension to DHI. Results of randomized, controlled clinical trials are more equivocal. While results do not offer clear evidence to support DHI as an evidence-based modality, this provocative field reveals important epistemological and …