Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 22, No. 3, Fall 1983
Healing and Health Care of the Whole Person PATRCIA HAGGARD A B S T R A C T . What happened to the ancient art of healing when the modern science of medicine
came into being? Recent alternatives of treating the body to keep it well are intrinsically linked to the social and religious development of our society. Holistic medicine may involve the rediscovery of many old ways that have been lost or forgotten. This article attempts to introduce healing as an aspect of all health care and particularly of the holistic model of health care. This model certainly includes biomedicine, but its parameters may be very much g,xeater. We often see t h a t in this a g e of specialization medical p r a c t i o n e r s are less a n d less able to look at the whole person, and scientific m e d i c i n e is m o r e a n d m o r e i n t e r e s t e d in p a t h o l o g y . A l t e r n a t i v e m e t h o d s of t r e a t i n g the b o d y to k e e p it well are i n t r i n s i c a l l y linked to o u r social reality. Y e t a t s o m e p o i n t d i s e a s e as a condition of the entire e n t i t y within the c o n t e x t of s o c i e t y b e g a n to be considered m e r e l y biological m a l f u n c t i o n i n g or d i s e a s e as a p r i m a r y c a u s e r a t h e r t h a n the result of m a n y f a c t o r s t h a t c o n f r o n t e v e r y individual. S o m e h o w the p u r p o s e of the p r o c e s s e s w a s lost a n d t h e e n d r e s u l t of h e a l t h c a r e - - h e a l i n g - forgotten. All healing t a k e s place within the c o n t e x t of the s y m b o l i c g e n e r a l i z a t i o n j u s t as does all health care. T h e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n or belief s y s t e m needs to include not only t r e a t m e n t b u t also the wider needs of the individual. T h i s a p p r o a c h to healing i n v o l v e s m o r e t h a n s u c c e s s f u l p r a c t i c e s . In fact, it has been s u g g e s t e d t h a t healing has been " t r e a t e d with e m b a r r a s s i n g silence as an archaic remn a n t of a prescientific era. TM T h e r e has been s o m e scientific r e s e a r c h into the belief s y s t e m of a s o c i e t y and of the individual within the s o c i e t y t o w a r d healing. H e a l i n g r e s u l t i n g f r o m t r e a t m e n t b y a s h a m a n in T a i w a n w a s n o t e d in a s t u d y set up to m e a s u r e cess a t i o n of p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s only. H o w e v e r , m o r e t h a n 50 p e r c e n t of the c a s e s were identified as i n v o l v i n g " s o m a t i z a t i o n , " or p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s r e s u l t i n g f r o m p e r s o n a l a n d social p r o b l e m s . W h e n p a t i e n t s were a s k e d to e v a l u a t e their healing, s e v e r a l " r a t e d t h e m s e l v e s as, a t l e a s t p a r t i a l l y , c u r e d . . , in s p i t e of (a lack of) a n y s i g n i f i c a n t s y m p t o m c h a n g e . " O t h e r s r e p o r t e d i m p r o v e m e n t or relief. T h e r e s e a r c h e r s found t h a t the s h a m a n w a s successful not only in physical healing, t h o u g h d i s e a s e s r e q u i r i n g the " a p p l i c a t i o n of b i o m e d i c a l technolo g y " were a p t to be i n a d e q u a t e l y t r e a t e d , b u t t h e y also a c k n o w l e d g e D t h a t c o n s i d e r e d t r e a t m e n t of m i n d a n d spirit w a s an i m p o r t a n t p a r t of s o m e cures. T h e conclusion of the s t u d y w a s t h a t i n d i g e n o u s p r a c t i t i o n e r s do indeed heal Reprint request may be addressed to Pat Itaggard. e736 1525 N. Wieland. Chicago. Illinois 60610. 234
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those disorders, which, in fact, are encountered in all health care systems. These include self-limiting and chronic diseases and the physical manifestations of psychological and social problems. 2 Healing may be defined as the process or act of curing or restoring to health or wholeness the body and the mind and the spirit. Most persons today believe that there is not much connection between religion and physical health. 3 Some health care professionals have begun to examine causes and cures for illness t h a t cannot be explained by "natural" biological or psychological means. 4 If it may be suggested that the Reformation freed the way to the development and growth of modern science, it was also at this time that the possibility of physical healing through spiritual means began to be discarded. The majority of miracles in the Bible involve physical healing. The early Church believed t h a t the spiritual world could and did affect a person's physical health. If we are to believe today that the supernatural cannot break into the natural world, then we are in the position of having to explain away the healing miracles of Jesus and others or at least to maintain that things have changed a lot since then. There are several views of healing t h a t persons may take today. The simplest is t h a t only physical means can be used to heal. Another is t h a t illness is God's will and/or the result of lack of faith. The view t h a t God no longer interferes in human affairs leads to the belief that healing has been withdrawn because with modern medicine the doctor can do it. On the other side, it can be maintained that "the claim of the Bible is absurd, unless we are ready to comprehend the world as depicted and scrutinized by science is but a thin surface of the profoundly unknown."s There is no distinction in either the Hebrew or the Christian Bible between healing of the body or of the mind or of the spirit. Failure to follow the law of Yahweh brought on afflictions which today have been recognized as more psychosomatic than pathological: boils, hemorrhoids, scabs, itching, blindness, madness, and "astonishment of heart" {numbness, stupor). 6 The 41 healing works of Jesus {more than 70 accounts of healing, but m a n y incidents are repeated in more than one Gospel} include physical, mental and emotional, and spiritual. 7 Health care professionals will be the first to admit that they do not always know how healing takes place. The form or method by which healing may be initiated is as varied and diverse as the individuals needing it. Sometimes the body needs a little help, like an antibiotic which kills off the bacteria so we can get on with the job of repair without having to repel invaders as well. The body is a wonderful mechanism that is constantly healing itself. " M e d i c i n e . . . must r e c o g n i z e . . , some ways that will always be uncertain, because such healing will be accomplished by the observer's simply being there. ''8 Norman Cousins's decision to undertake his own treatment was based on his belief that the drug therapy he was being given had a worse effect on his body's immune system than no drugs at all. Healing practices can include the value of taking no action at all rather than making a "progressively interventional" approach that may lead to an iatrogenic or negative, treatment-induced effect. 9
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There are some classifications of what healing is, or how to recognize it when you see it. These include cessation of pain, removal of side effects of treatment, stabilization of a progressive condition, and the ret urn to physical function with the condition still present.I~ There are also specialized definitions of healing t h a t depend on the condition. If there is a "disregulation" in the body, such as the vascular constriction in migraine, then t r e a t m e n t utilizing biofeedback to train the patient to control the constriction can be said to be a healing of the disorder. 11 If a problem has a trivial cause or a cause that is no longer of any significance in the life of the patient Ithe problem merely hanging on like a bad unconscious habit), it may be erased without the patient becoming aware of its psychological component--its "cause." For longlasting results in biofeedback training, it is important that patients have a clear idea of what they are doing and realize that neither the machines nor the doctors are making anything happen. It is the patient that does it. t2 P r a y e r for healing m ay be acceptable to some persons. However, Agnes Sanford reports th at one patient a t t r i b u t e d an inexplicable cancer cure to the chaplain's prayers. The hospital authorities asked the church from which the chaplain came if they believed in healing. Receiving no as the answer, the hospital fired the chaplain.13 Francis M c N u t t tells the st ory of the doctor who was reported for unprofessional conduct by the chaplain because he prayed with his patients. In the end the doctor was exonerated because he " b r o u g h t in so m a n y patients. ''~ Jesus used several healing "techniques" including spit and dust and other people's pigs. It is interesting t h a t he never chose to use one of the most common healing substances of t h a t culture. The use of oil or rendered fat as an unguent to soothe and protect injuries to the body has been found in every socie t y from the most primitive to the most civilized. Anointing has also been a way of marking something as special or set apart. Moses was directed to prepare oil for the anointing of Aaron, the ark, and the tabernacle to consecrate them as holy. B ut the instructions are: "A nd thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment compound after the art of the apothecary. 9 There are few references to healing of any sort in the Hebrew Bible, but this passage suggests the use of oil for t r e a ti ng and healing as something apart from consecration) 5 The use of unction for the healing of the sick in the early Christian Church has its a u t h o r i t y from the following passage: Is there any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man) 6 T h a t the practice of anointing has fallen in and out of disuse since has much to do with the changes in a t t i t u d e s about God's relationship with us. This has always been true in times of crisis. Rather than accepting illnesses as the com-
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mon lot of all persons and healing an ongoing function God has made available at all times, the chaos at the end of the Roman Empire affected Christians with the despairing conviction t h a t sickness was a punishment sent from God. At this time and at later periods, God was held to show displeasure by withholding physical healing. For those cures which have resulted at such places as Lourdes, the Church has constructed exhaustive conditions for "authentication" of occurrences held to be explicable by none other than "supernatural" means. ~7That is, God occasionally makes exceptions. Rather than enter into a discussion of what "supernatural" might mean and the extent to which it may be synonymous with "inexplicable," the phenomenon of Lourdes is worth considering here. The Church has been very conservative about the healings at Lourdes, and of the tens of thousands of cures that have taken place, fewer than 70 have been authenticated, that is, met the rigorous requirement to be called "miraculous." Hundreds of health care personnel volunteer each year to staff the clinics at Lourdes. A great source of frustration to these persons is the number of cures they see which are not candidates for authentication, mainly because of insufficient documentation. Further, there is a distinction made between those cures t h a t can be attributed to "natural" means, albeit of a rapidity and action unknown but possible, and those cures which have no such possible explanation in biomedicine, such as the restoration of sight while retinal tissue is still destroyed or the disappearance of edemous fluid faster than can be attributed to evaporation or to any other than "supernatural" means. A further "explanation" may be that we do not have the knowledge to enable us to understand such phenomena--yet. Healing can also be a preventive activity that involves taking steps before a condition exists or is recognized. As more is learned about those conditions that are almost programmed by genetics, predisposition, and/or lifestyle, maintaining health by stopping deterioration to preserve wholeness of body, mind, and spirit is a form of healing. "We believe that emotional and mental states play a significant role both in susceptibility to disease, including cancer, and in recovery from all diseases."8 In the most basic sense, from the regeneration of the mind and emotions after a period of mourning to the nonstop replacement of cells by the body in the right place at the right time, healing is an ongoing process. Illness is an interruption of the healing process. Based on this single fact, any intervention must be concerned with getting the healing process back in motion again. This may require a number of actions or "multility,''~9 and body, mind, and spirit are useful constructs for what actions need to be taken to promote the healing process. Healing is holistic. That is, it takes place in the body, in the emotions, in the mind and will, as well as in the spirit. If we recognize our nature as being made up of these interdependent parts, we can see that illness is frequently the result of fragmentation, a denial of t h a t interdependence. Intervention is then a process of integration, of "helping to hold things together" until the healing processes are working again? ~ Healing has a spiritual element. Loss, guilt, oppression can cause dis-ease. Here is when an act of liberation, a clearing of the path is a prerequisite to the
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healing process. This may be a function of the "Damascus road" religious experience, or an understanding of what gives life meaning, or even something material and temporal. Medication to relieve pain can enable the person to be open again to the healing of the spirit?' In other words; Being healthy is more than having a body that works well; it is feeling good about yourself, dealing creatively with the people and situations around you, and growing spiritually toward the sense of wholeness. 22 One gnostic writer's view was that we should look after our bodies and exercise our gift of intellect because these were the means given to us by which we can feel and know the god within us t h a t is the part of us t h a t will be joined with God when we have no further use for our physical selves. While we have them and must use them, it is right t h a t our bodies and our minds and our spirits should be kept as whole and as healthy as the Creator intended them to be. 23 The new movement deserves a sympathetic hearing, in that it provides therapeutic health care teams concerned with the whole mind-body-spirit complex with physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patient's life-style and well-being.24 This was the conclusion of an article t h a t discusses some aspects of the holistic health care movement. Hospital and medical insurance companies are beginning to look at holistic health care as a means of controlling escalating costs. The 1979 Report of the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General is encouraging those techniques that may be found in holistic health care practice. After all, pain control learned through biofeedback is a great deal less expensive than drugs. There are probably more than 500 holistic {or wholistic) centers or clinics in the United States that are staffed by physicians and health care practitioners, including nurses, psychologists, and spiritual counselors. A plan developed by the team for the client might include a physical workup by the physician or by the nurse, additional laboratory work, and specific care. Later meetings may provide assistance in management of life changes, as well as helping to answer questions of meaning or values. Some organizations have strong religious orientation t h a t may not be in the least denominational; but believing t h a t a "healthy religious faith contributes to a healthy b o d y . . . a l l [team members] share a common concern for helping persons develop the vital elements of a faith-related life.-25 Blue Cross and other prepayment programs have been extremely cautious about recognizing some of the nonphysician holistic groups, but a past president has said, nonetheless, "I am encouraging Blue Cross plans to help the holistic centers that are getting started in their communities in every way they can, j u s t as I have encouraged them to take part in preventive and health education plans. T M Probably one of the most difficult things to grasp about the holistic health care movement in general and even those groups with a definite religious orientation is that they are not really institutional, although the elements that go
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into t h e m are v e r y m u c h so. T h a t is, the "constellation of g r o u p c o m m i t m e n t ) is limited, often to the discrete m e m b e r s h i p of a few individuals. F u r t h e r in our society, medicine is v e r y m u c h a cultural institution. So are organized religion, education, and the legel s y s t e m . P r o b l e m s arise when an a t t e m p t is m a d e to unite or at least overlap the d o m a i n of two or more i n s t i t u t i o n s . T h o s e p e r s o n s who are the professional s u p p o r t s of a n y of these i n s t i t u t i o n s will g u a r d their t e r r i t o r y from all i n t r u d e r s , especially from o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s . Also a n y member of one g r o u p m a k i n g o v e r t u r e s to a n o t h e r g r o u p m a y find himself excluded - - f r o m b o t h groups. Just as in a situation of necessity when there are no doctors, (as in mission lands) the priest can, to the best of his ability, fill the gap, so the inverse substitution can also be made in case of necessity. But this is not too desirable, and it is completely wrong to desire it basically. 27 T h e earlier e x a m p l e s of doctors and chaplains d e m o n s t r a t e d the s t r o n g feeling when one i n s t i t u t i o n or g r o u p c o m m i t m e n t m o v e d o n t o w h a t is considered the d o m a i n of the other. M u c h of holistic health care is d o m i n a t e d b y the medical institution. As a result, o t h e r disciplines, despite p r o t e s t s to the c o n t r a r y , are still t r e a t e d as ancillary services. 28 For healing to take place, an a p p r o a c h to r e i n t e g r a t i n g the whole p e r s o n is required. One factor of this involves the relationship between the dis-eased individual and the practitioner. The premise is t h a t healing is m a i n l y the pat i e n t ' s responsibility. T h e r e is a deliberate e n c o u r a g e m e n t b y the p r a c t i t i o n e r of the p a t i e n t ' s t r u s t in self-healing and those disciplines t h a t are c o n s e q u e n t with and actualize this trust. Their experience t o g e t h e r has the e a r m a r k s of a c o m m o n l y held belief s y s t e m . T h e y share the conviction t h a t The individual patient is essentially responsible for the outcome of an illness episode. The patient must engage in activities such as physical exercise, stress management, and nutritional awareness, which help maintain health as well as promote healing. 29 The f u n d a m e n t a l principle of holistic health care is the u n i t e d a p p r o a c h to the whole of the being. Some conflict arises from this a p p r o a c h because it cannot be identified as the function of one g r o u p or i n s t i t u t i o n or another. Thus, holistic health care c a n n o t be clearly identified as an i n s t i t u t i o n itself. However, the one t h i n g t h a t all holistic g r o u p s do seem to be able to p r o m o t e as their goal does seem to be the one t h i n g t h a t m a y be missing from some of the i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t object to holistic p r a c t i c e s - - h e a l i n g .
References
1. Kleinman, A. H., and Sung, L. H., "Why Do Indigenous Practitioners Successfully Heal?" Social Science and Medicine, 1979, 138, 7. 2. 1bid.
3. Sterling, C., unpublished manuscript, 1980.
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4. Grad, .B., "Healing by the Laying on of Hands: A Review of Experiments," In Sobel, D., ed., Ways of Health. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979, pp.267-287. 5. Heschel, A. J., The Wisdom of Heschel. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970, p. 359. 6. Deuteronomy 28:27-28. 7. Kelsey, M., Healing and Christianity. New York, Harper & Row, 1973, pp. 47-48. 8. Lynch, J. J., The Broken Heart. New York, Basic Books, 1979, p.198. 9. Cousins, N., "Anatomy of an Illness (as Perceived by the Patient)," New England J. Medicine, December 13, 1976, 1458-1463. 10. McNutt, F., Power to Heal. New York, Bantam Books, 1979, pp. 29-33. 11. Schwartz, G., "Biofeedback and the Treatment of Disregulation Disorders." Ways of Health, op. cit., pp. 363-378. 12. Green, E., and Green, A., Beyond Biofeedback. New York, Dell, 1977, pp. 39-41.45. 13. Sanford, A., Sealed Orders. New Jersey. Logos International, 1972, pp. 199-200. 14. McNutt, op. cit., p. xvii. 15. Exodus 30:25ff. 16. James 5:14-15. 17. McNutt, op. cit., p. 35. 18. Simonton, O. C., from the Cancer Counseling and Research Center brochure, 1980. 19. McKnight, J. L., "A Cancerous Health.Development: The Case of American Medicine," Development Dialogue--Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 1978, 1, 18. 20. Peterson, W., lecture, Health Professionals Seminar at Wholistic Health Centers, Inc., Hinsdale, Illinois, February 20, 1980. 21. Ibid. 22. "Personal Health Care Inventory," Wholistic Health Centers, Inc., 1980. 23. "Letter to Rheginos" or "The Treatise on Resurrection," trans., Malcolm Peel. In Robinson, J. M., ed. The Nag Hammadi Library. San Francisco, H~rper & Row, 1977, pp. 50-53. 24. Yahn, G., "The Impact of Holistic Medicine, Medical Groups and Health Concepts," American Medical Association, November 16, 1979, 242, 20, 15-20. 25. "Healthy Religion--Healthy Body," Wholistic Health Center of Oak Park brochure. 26. McNerney, W. J., quoted in the report of The Wholistic Health Centers: A New Direction in Health Care, January 1977, p. 5. 27. Niedermeyer, A., Compenditlm of Pastoral Medicine. New York, Joseph P. Wagner, pp. 420-424. 28. Brun, W., personal note, December 1981. 29. Ardell, D. B., High Let~el Wellness. Emmaus, Pa., Rodale Press, 1977.
Healing and Health Care of the Whole Person PATRCIA HAGGARD A B S T R A C T . What happened to the ancient art of healing when the modern science of medicine
came into being? Recent alternatives of treating the body to keep it well are intrinsically linked to the social and religious development of our society. Holistic medicine may involve the rediscovery of many old ways that have been lost or forgotten. This article attempts to introduce healing as an aspect of all health care and particularly of the holistic model of health care. This model certainly includes biomedicine, but its parameters may be very much g,xeater. We often see t h a t in this a g e of specialization medical p r a c t i o n e r s are less a n d less able to look at the whole person, and scientific m e d i c i n e is m o r e a n d m o r e i n t e r e s t e d in p a t h o l o g y . A l t e r n a t i v e m e t h o d s of t r e a t i n g the b o d y to k e e p it well are i n t r i n s i c a l l y linked to o u r social reality. Y e t a t s o m e p o i n t d i s e a s e as a condition of the entire e n t i t y within the c o n t e x t of s o c i e t y b e g a n to be considered m e r e l y biological m a l f u n c t i o n i n g or d i s e a s e as a p r i m a r y c a u s e r a t h e r t h a n the result of m a n y f a c t o r s t h a t c o n f r o n t e v e r y individual. S o m e h o w the p u r p o s e of the p r o c e s s e s w a s lost a n d t h e e n d r e s u l t of h e a l t h c a r e - - h e a l i n g - forgotten. All healing t a k e s place within the c o n t e x t of the s y m b o l i c g e n e r a l i z a t i o n j u s t as does all health care. T h e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n or belief s y s t e m needs to include not only t r e a t m e n t b u t also the wider needs of the individual. T h i s a p p r o a c h to healing i n v o l v e s m o r e t h a n s u c c e s s f u l p r a c t i c e s . In fact, it has been s u g g e s t e d t h a t healing has been " t r e a t e d with e m b a r r a s s i n g silence as an archaic remn a n t of a prescientific era. TM T h e r e has been s o m e scientific r e s e a r c h into the belief s y s t e m of a s o c i e t y and of the individual within the s o c i e t y t o w a r d healing. H e a l i n g r e s u l t i n g f r o m t r e a t m e n t b y a s h a m a n in T a i w a n w a s n o t e d in a s t u d y set up to m e a s u r e cess a t i o n of p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s only. H o w e v e r , m o r e t h a n 50 p e r c e n t of the c a s e s were identified as i n v o l v i n g " s o m a t i z a t i o n , " or p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s r e s u l t i n g f r o m p e r s o n a l a n d social p r o b l e m s . W h e n p a t i e n t s were a s k e d to e v a l u a t e their healing, s e v e r a l " r a t e d t h e m s e l v e s as, a t l e a s t p a r t i a l l y , c u r e d . . , in s p i t e of (a lack of) a n y s i g n i f i c a n t s y m p t o m c h a n g e . " O t h e r s r e p o r t e d i m p r o v e m e n t or relief. T h e r e s e a r c h e r s found t h a t the s h a m a n w a s successful not only in physical healing, t h o u g h d i s e a s e s r e q u i r i n g the " a p p l i c a t i o n of b i o m e d i c a l technolo g y " were a p t to be i n a d e q u a t e l y t r e a t e d , b u t t h e y also a c k n o w l e d g e D t h a t c o n s i d e r e d t r e a t m e n t of m i n d a n d spirit w a s an i m p o r t a n t p a r t of s o m e cures. T h e conclusion of the s t u d y w a s t h a t i n d i g e n o u s p r a c t i t i o n e r s do indeed heal Reprint request may be addressed to Pat Itaggard. e736 1525 N. Wieland. Chicago. Illinois 60610. 234
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those disorders, which, in fact, are encountered in all health care systems. These include self-limiting and chronic diseases and the physical manifestations of psychological and social problems. 2 Healing may be defined as the process or act of curing or restoring to health or wholeness the body and the mind and the spirit. Most persons today believe that there is not much connection between religion and physical health. 3 Some health care professionals have begun to examine causes and cures for illness t h a t cannot be explained by "natural" biological or psychological means. 4 If it may be suggested that the Reformation freed the way to the development and growth of modern science, it was also at this time that the possibility of physical healing through spiritual means began to be discarded. The majority of miracles in the Bible involve physical healing. The early Church believed t h a t the spiritual world could and did affect a person's physical health. If we are to believe today that the supernatural cannot break into the natural world, then we are in the position of having to explain away the healing miracles of Jesus and others or at least to maintain that things have changed a lot since then. There are several views of healing t h a t persons may take today. The simplest is t h a t only physical means can be used to heal. Another is t h a t illness is God's will and/or the result of lack of faith. The view t h a t God no longer interferes in human affairs leads to the belief that healing has been withdrawn because with modern medicine the doctor can do it. On the other side, it can be maintained that "the claim of the Bible is absurd, unless we are ready to comprehend the world as depicted and scrutinized by science is but a thin surface of the profoundly unknown."s There is no distinction in either the Hebrew or the Christian Bible between healing of the body or of the mind or of the spirit. Failure to follow the law of Yahweh brought on afflictions which today have been recognized as more psychosomatic than pathological: boils, hemorrhoids, scabs, itching, blindness, madness, and "astonishment of heart" {numbness, stupor). 6 The 41 healing works of Jesus {more than 70 accounts of healing, but m a n y incidents are repeated in more than one Gospel} include physical, mental and emotional, and spiritual. 7 Health care professionals will be the first to admit that they do not always know how healing takes place. The form or method by which healing may be initiated is as varied and diverse as the individuals needing it. Sometimes the body needs a little help, like an antibiotic which kills off the bacteria so we can get on with the job of repair without having to repel invaders as well. The body is a wonderful mechanism that is constantly healing itself. " M e d i c i n e . . . must r e c o g n i z e . . , some ways that will always be uncertain, because such healing will be accomplished by the observer's simply being there. ''8 Norman Cousins's decision to undertake his own treatment was based on his belief that the drug therapy he was being given had a worse effect on his body's immune system than no drugs at all. Healing practices can include the value of taking no action at all rather than making a "progressively interventional" approach that may lead to an iatrogenic or negative, treatment-induced effect. 9
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There are some classifications of what healing is, or how to recognize it when you see it. These include cessation of pain, removal of side effects of treatment, stabilization of a progressive condition, and the ret urn to physical function with the condition still present.I~ There are also specialized definitions of healing t h a t depend on the condition. If there is a "disregulation" in the body, such as the vascular constriction in migraine, then t r e a t m e n t utilizing biofeedback to train the patient to control the constriction can be said to be a healing of the disorder. 11 If a problem has a trivial cause or a cause that is no longer of any significance in the life of the patient Ithe problem merely hanging on like a bad unconscious habit), it may be erased without the patient becoming aware of its psychological component--its "cause." For longlasting results in biofeedback training, it is important that patients have a clear idea of what they are doing and realize that neither the machines nor the doctors are making anything happen. It is the patient that does it. t2 P r a y e r for healing m ay be acceptable to some persons. However, Agnes Sanford reports th at one patient a t t r i b u t e d an inexplicable cancer cure to the chaplain's prayers. The hospital authorities asked the church from which the chaplain came if they believed in healing. Receiving no as the answer, the hospital fired the chaplain.13 Francis M c N u t t tells the st ory of the doctor who was reported for unprofessional conduct by the chaplain because he prayed with his patients. In the end the doctor was exonerated because he " b r o u g h t in so m a n y patients. ''~ Jesus used several healing "techniques" including spit and dust and other people's pigs. It is interesting t h a t he never chose to use one of the most common healing substances of t h a t culture. The use of oil or rendered fat as an unguent to soothe and protect injuries to the body has been found in every socie t y from the most primitive to the most civilized. Anointing has also been a way of marking something as special or set apart. Moses was directed to prepare oil for the anointing of Aaron, the ark, and the tabernacle to consecrate them as holy. B ut the instructions are: "A nd thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment compound after the art of the apothecary. 9 There are few references to healing of any sort in the Hebrew Bible, but this passage suggests the use of oil for t r e a ti ng and healing as something apart from consecration) 5 The use of unction for the healing of the sick in the early Christian Church has its a u t h o r i t y from the following passage: Is there any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man) 6 T h a t the practice of anointing has fallen in and out of disuse since has much to do with the changes in a t t i t u d e s about God's relationship with us. This has always been true in times of crisis. Rather than accepting illnesses as the com-
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mon lot of all persons and healing an ongoing function God has made available at all times, the chaos at the end of the Roman Empire affected Christians with the despairing conviction t h a t sickness was a punishment sent from God. At this time and at later periods, God was held to show displeasure by withholding physical healing. For those cures which have resulted at such places as Lourdes, the Church has constructed exhaustive conditions for "authentication" of occurrences held to be explicable by none other than "supernatural" means. ~7That is, God occasionally makes exceptions. Rather than enter into a discussion of what "supernatural" might mean and the extent to which it may be synonymous with "inexplicable," the phenomenon of Lourdes is worth considering here. The Church has been very conservative about the healings at Lourdes, and of the tens of thousands of cures that have taken place, fewer than 70 have been authenticated, that is, met the rigorous requirement to be called "miraculous." Hundreds of health care personnel volunteer each year to staff the clinics at Lourdes. A great source of frustration to these persons is the number of cures they see which are not candidates for authentication, mainly because of insufficient documentation. Further, there is a distinction made between those cures t h a t can be attributed to "natural" means, albeit of a rapidity and action unknown but possible, and those cures which have no such possible explanation in biomedicine, such as the restoration of sight while retinal tissue is still destroyed or the disappearance of edemous fluid faster than can be attributed to evaporation or to any other than "supernatural" means. A further "explanation" may be that we do not have the knowledge to enable us to understand such phenomena--yet. Healing can also be a preventive activity that involves taking steps before a condition exists or is recognized. As more is learned about those conditions that are almost programmed by genetics, predisposition, and/or lifestyle, maintaining health by stopping deterioration to preserve wholeness of body, mind, and spirit is a form of healing. "We believe that emotional and mental states play a significant role both in susceptibility to disease, including cancer, and in recovery from all diseases."8 In the most basic sense, from the regeneration of the mind and emotions after a period of mourning to the nonstop replacement of cells by the body in the right place at the right time, healing is an ongoing process. Illness is an interruption of the healing process. Based on this single fact, any intervention must be concerned with getting the healing process back in motion again. This may require a number of actions or "multility,''~9 and body, mind, and spirit are useful constructs for what actions need to be taken to promote the healing process. Healing is holistic. That is, it takes place in the body, in the emotions, in the mind and will, as well as in the spirit. If we recognize our nature as being made up of these interdependent parts, we can see that illness is frequently the result of fragmentation, a denial of t h a t interdependence. Intervention is then a process of integration, of "helping to hold things together" until the healing processes are working again? ~ Healing has a spiritual element. Loss, guilt, oppression can cause dis-ease. Here is when an act of liberation, a clearing of the path is a prerequisite to the
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healing process. This may be a function of the "Damascus road" religious experience, or an understanding of what gives life meaning, or even something material and temporal. Medication to relieve pain can enable the person to be open again to the healing of the spirit?' In other words; Being healthy is more than having a body that works well; it is feeling good about yourself, dealing creatively with the people and situations around you, and growing spiritually toward the sense of wholeness. 22 One gnostic writer's view was that we should look after our bodies and exercise our gift of intellect because these were the means given to us by which we can feel and know the god within us t h a t is the part of us t h a t will be joined with God when we have no further use for our physical selves. While we have them and must use them, it is right t h a t our bodies and our minds and our spirits should be kept as whole and as healthy as the Creator intended them to be. 23 The new movement deserves a sympathetic hearing, in that it provides therapeutic health care teams concerned with the whole mind-body-spirit complex with physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patient's life-style and well-being.24 This was the conclusion of an article t h a t discusses some aspects of the holistic health care movement. Hospital and medical insurance companies are beginning to look at holistic health care as a means of controlling escalating costs. The 1979 Report of the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General is encouraging those techniques that may be found in holistic health care practice. After all, pain control learned through biofeedback is a great deal less expensive than drugs. There are probably more than 500 holistic {or wholistic) centers or clinics in the United States that are staffed by physicians and health care practitioners, including nurses, psychologists, and spiritual counselors. A plan developed by the team for the client might include a physical workup by the physician or by the nurse, additional laboratory work, and specific care. Later meetings may provide assistance in management of life changes, as well as helping to answer questions of meaning or values. Some organizations have strong religious orientation t h a t may not be in the least denominational; but believing t h a t a "healthy religious faith contributes to a healthy b o d y . . . a l l [team members] share a common concern for helping persons develop the vital elements of a faith-related life.-25 Blue Cross and other prepayment programs have been extremely cautious about recognizing some of the nonphysician holistic groups, but a past president has said, nonetheless, "I am encouraging Blue Cross plans to help the holistic centers that are getting started in their communities in every way they can, j u s t as I have encouraged them to take part in preventive and health education plans. T M Probably one of the most difficult things to grasp about the holistic health care movement in general and even those groups with a definite religious orientation is that they are not really institutional, although the elements that go
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into t h e m are v e r y m u c h so. T h a t is, the "constellation of g r o u p c o m m i t m e n t ) is limited, often to the discrete m e m b e r s h i p of a few individuals. F u r t h e r in our society, medicine is v e r y m u c h a cultural institution. So are organized religion, education, and the legel s y s t e m . P r o b l e m s arise when an a t t e m p t is m a d e to unite or at least overlap the d o m a i n of two or more i n s t i t u t i o n s . T h o s e p e r s o n s who are the professional s u p p o r t s of a n y of these i n s t i t u t i o n s will g u a r d their t e r r i t o r y from all i n t r u d e r s , especially from o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s . Also a n y member of one g r o u p m a k i n g o v e r t u r e s to a n o t h e r g r o u p m a y find himself excluded - - f r o m b o t h groups. Just as in a situation of necessity when there are no doctors, (as in mission lands) the priest can, to the best of his ability, fill the gap, so the inverse substitution can also be made in case of necessity. But this is not too desirable, and it is completely wrong to desire it basically. 27 T h e earlier e x a m p l e s of doctors and chaplains d e m o n s t r a t e d the s t r o n g feeling when one i n s t i t u t i o n or g r o u p c o m m i t m e n t m o v e d o n t o w h a t is considered the d o m a i n of the other. M u c h of holistic health care is d o m i n a t e d b y the medical institution. As a result, o t h e r disciplines, despite p r o t e s t s to the c o n t r a r y , are still t r e a t e d as ancillary services. 28 For healing to take place, an a p p r o a c h to r e i n t e g r a t i n g the whole p e r s o n is required. One factor of this involves the relationship between the dis-eased individual and the practitioner. The premise is t h a t healing is m a i n l y the pat i e n t ' s responsibility. T h e r e is a deliberate e n c o u r a g e m e n t b y the p r a c t i t i o n e r of the p a t i e n t ' s t r u s t in self-healing and those disciplines t h a t are c o n s e q u e n t with and actualize this trust. Their experience t o g e t h e r has the e a r m a r k s of a c o m m o n l y held belief s y s t e m . T h e y share the conviction t h a t The individual patient is essentially responsible for the outcome of an illness episode. The patient must engage in activities such as physical exercise, stress management, and nutritional awareness, which help maintain health as well as promote healing. 29 The f u n d a m e n t a l principle of holistic health care is the u n i t e d a p p r o a c h to the whole of the being. Some conflict arises from this a p p r o a c h because it cannot be identified as the function of one g r o u p or i n s t i t u t i o n or another. Thus, holistic health care c a n n o t be clearly identified as an i n s t i t u t i o n itself. However, the one t h i n g t h a t all holistic g r o u p s do seem to be able to p r o m o t e as their goal does seem to be the one t h i n g t h a t m a y be missing from some of the i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t object to holistic p r a c t i c e s - - h e a l i n g .
References
1. Kleinman, A. H., and Sung, L. H., "Why Do Indigenous Practitioners Successfully Heal?" Social Science and Medicine, 1979, 138, 7. 2. 1bid.
3. Sterling, C., unpublished manuscript, 1980.
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4. Grad, .B., "Healing by the Laying on of Hands: A Review of Experiments," In Sobel, D., ed., Ways of Health. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979, pp.267-287. 5. Heschel, A. J., The Wisdom of Heschel. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970, p. 359. 6. Deuteronomy 28:27-28. 7. Kelsey, M., Healing and Christianity. New York, Harper & Row, 1973, pp. 47-48. 8. Lynch, J. J., The Broken Heart. New York, Basic Books, 1979, p.198. 9. Cousins, N., "Anatomy of an Illness (as Perceived by the Patient)," New England J. Medicine, December 13, 1976, 1458-1463. 10. McNutt, F., Power to Heal. New York, Bantam Books, 1979, pp. 29-33. 11. Schwartz, G., "Biofeedback and the Treatment of Disregulation Disorders." Ways of Health, op. cit., pp. 363-378. 12. Green, E., and Green, A., Beyond Biofeedback. New York, Dell, 1977, pp. 39-41.45. 13. Sanford, A., Sealed Orders. New Jersey. Logos International, 1972, pp. 199-200. 14. McNutt, op. cit., p. xvii. 15. Exodus 30:25ff. 16. James 5:14-15. 17. McNutt, op. cit., p. 35. 18. Simonton, O. C., from the Cancer Counseling and Research Center brochure, 1980. 19. McKnight, J. L., "A Cancerous Health.Development: The Case of American Medicine," Development Dialogue--Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 1978, 1, 18. 20. Peterson, W., lecture, Health Professionals Seminar at Wholistic Health Centers, Inc., Hinsdale, Illinois, February 20, 1980. 21. Ibid. 22. "Personal Health Care Inventory," Wholistic Health Centers, Inc., 1980. 23. "Letter to Rheginos" or "The Treatise on Resurrection," trans., Malcolm Peel. In Robinson, J. M., ed. The Nag Hammadi Library. San Francisco, H~rper & Row, 1977, pp. 50-53. 24. Yahn, G., "The Impact of Holistic Medicine, Medical Groups and Health Concepts," American Medical Association, November 16, 1979, 242, 20, 15-20. 25. "Healthy Religion--Healthy Body," Wholistic Health Center of Oak Park brochure. 26. McNerney, W. J., quoted in the report of The Wholistic Health Centers: A New Direction in Health Care, January 1977, p. 5. 27. Niedermeyer, A., Compenditlm of Pastoral Medicine. New York, Joseph P. Wagner, pp. 420-424. 28. Brun, W., personal note, December 1981. 29. Ardell, D. B., High Let~el Wellness. Emmaus, Pa., Rodale Press, 1977.
