Destigmatizing Underlying Causes for Suicidal Ideation
Not every suicide is due to mental illness. Here is a common-sense perspective on the underlying causes of suicidal ideation. Click on the link below to read the article. Be well!
It Wasn’t Depression That Led This Physician to Suicidal Ideation
Racism, Immigration, and Politics: Increasing Insanity Within Our Country (Personal Reflections of a Holistic Psychiatrist)
The Skull at Joshua Tree National Park
It is my job to bring sanity back into people's lives.
When I read this article on immigration by Jennifer Rubin, it struck me that since January 2017, this country has seemed to be in need of its own psychiatrist--to heal from its insanity. Another article written by Andrew M. Cuomo expressed the moral outrage created by our country's immigration policies. Paul Krugman expressed his reaction to the "barbarism" in our country in his op-ed column, "Return of the Blood Libel."
The moral compass has been missing in the White House. The horrors of history have reawakened from their fitful sleep. Truth and democracy have been battling a rising despot surrounded by sycophants (or is it spelled psycho-phants?).
I read, "The Sane Society" by Erich Fromm and am surprised by its relevance today, and I wonder, "What can I do to help move the needle back towards sanity in our country?"
The first is to follow/support those in politics and the news who do what is right: bringing into the light the darkness of hypocrisy, racism, discrimination, abuse, and corruption. We need to be alert to opportunities when we can show greater compassion, tolerance, equality, support, and honesty in our daily walk and then do it, no matter what. Let those who see clearly and speak the truth lead us and let our daily actions remain sane.
The second is to stand up for, to contribute to, and to communicate that which serves the light. Don't hide or hesitate. Add your voice to the rising chorus and say, "It is insane to separate children from their families and put them in metal cages. It is insane to justify such cruelty with lies about nonexistent laws. It is insane to allow any politician associated with this to remain in office. They have no moral compass." Then, vote. Vote them out of office, before our votes no longer matter. Let our voices and votes embrace sanity's return.
The third is to care for those who had been marginalized and unsupported by this country, whose desperation and anger led to this shift in our country. They were wooed by those who took advantage of their anger--a repeat of history. Help them regain their dignity and status, not through a us-versus-them mentality but through cooperation and support. Let an increase in compassion and connection throughout our communities restore our country's sanity.
And the fourth is to remember, during our meditations and prayers, the needs of our country. Tune your faith to a divine Source/Creator who can heal our country from its insanity.
May we find ways to bring greater sanity back to our country.
Understanding Histamine's Connection to Mental Health
Much more information on medication withdrawal is available under holistic updates. Please subscribe for holistic updates on creating mental health from the thought up!
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Recently, a patient with a history of bipolar disorder and lupus successfully tapered off of Seroquel. She has been off her medication since July 2017, after being dependent on this medication for over 15 years.
In her journey to maintain mental health, we came to a better understanding of how high levels of histamine could undermine mental health.
Histamine is a neuromodulator of the adrenals and can increase levels of adrenaline. Stress and inflammation are associated with increased histamine, as well as withdrawal from histamine-blocking medications, e.g. Seroquel.
Her symptoms of extreme fatigue, anxiety, and cognitive confusion resolved when she introduced a temporary break from work, began a low histamine diet, and added a DAO histaminase enzyme supplement.
Here is a great article on histamine and its role in our health. If you ever want to successfully reduce a medication that blocks histamine receptors, you will need to know how to lower histamine levels.
All the best,
Alice W. Lee, MD
New York Times Article: Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit
It appears that the problem of antidepressant withdrawal is finally getting some national attention. Please read this following article in the New York Times:
Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit
Antidepressant withdrawal should be done carefully by someone who has experience with the process. Most traditionally trained psychiatrists are taught to help patients withdraw by lowering the dosage "slowly." If they fail and the patient relapses into a severe state of depression, the withdrawal failure is blamed on the patient's underlying illness.
Please do not just simply lower your dosage "slowly." Few can withdraw successfully this way.
There is much more to the science of medication withdrawal than that, and you can hurt your health and your chances of success if you are not aware of how to do it properly.
Please contact me for a free 15 minute consultation to see if I can assist you through this delicate process.
All the best,
Alice W. Lee, MD
Alternative Information on Vaccines
Thought I would share a few interesting articles on vaccines as we approach winter and the pressure to choose whether to receive the flu vaccine.
Vaccine Adjuvants and Excipients
What Doctors Don't Tell You: Scientists Discover Why the Annual Flu Jab Doesn't Work
The information being provided helps to clarify some questions that people may have about the effectiveness of the flu vaccine as well as some known health risks associated with routine vaccinations.
I hope this information is helpful.
Alice W. Lee, MD
Religion, Politics, and Sanity
Holy City by Brian Whelan
The Rat In Religion and Politics
Recently, an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled, "Why Christians Stick With Trump" by Hugh Hewitt highlighted how religion can be used as a convenient excuse by some, to justify bigotry or sexual discrimination. In addition, it pointed to the unique use of the term, "religious freedom," by current Trumpian Christians.
Coincidentally, I read this article after dealing with growing conflicts between my religion and my personal values. (Helped by disreputable politicians, flashing their religious zeal like show girls doing the Cancan.)
As someone who deeply values spirituality, I found myself becoming increasingly uncomfortable with my old allegiance to a religion that failed to meet my moral and ethical standards. In general, I observed a lack of boldness, courage, and conviction in speaking out on behalf of the oppressed, marginalized, or abused. It failed to confront the social mishandling of wealth and power. Instead, it lacked compassion, equality, and common sense; and justified persecution and discrimination against others. At least, that is what I unfortunately witnessed in my religion.
If religion served to spiritually enlighten and uplift, or brought greater compassion and harmony, then it would be fulfilling its purpose. Unfortunately, people carry religion into all sorts of situations where it does not belong, such as someone else's choice for a sexual partner, child-bearing decisions, or wedding cake orders. Some believe that God supports their intolerance, and it is their "religious freedom" to impose their values on others. This kind of backwards-speak redefines the essence of God and religion as fear and control.
“Just as a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, a rat by any other name would smell as raunchy. ”
Just as a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, a rat by any other name would smell as raunchy. And the rat in religion and politics is the abuse of power that dulls our conscience and justifies the "us vs. them" mentality.
When religion or politics create disharmony, conflicts, or unjust discrimination, their negative influences undermine our ability to heal and thrive. Putting mental effort into ignoring/ denying/ suppressing/ processing wrongs done by these organizations wastes energy that could have been used to create well-being.
“It is time we shed the notion that we can be healthy and hypocrites at the same time. The two are antithetical states of being. ”
It is time we shed the notion that we can be healthy and hypocrites at the same time. The two are antithetical states of being. Nor is it possible to separate the sicknesses of society from the sicknesses of the mind. As Eric Fromm wrote in, "The Sane Society," insanity within a capitalistic society can be a socially driven disease. Living in integrity with our highest values, aligned with our divine nature, strengthens our connection to health and well-being, by restoring that which truly gratifies the soul.
Alice W. Lee, MD
A Blog by David Spangler called "You Shall Not Pass!"
The gate to evil enchants all who allow hate to guide their way.
I just read David Spangler's latest essay on hate vs. love and was impressed with his insights. I hope people all over the world would be able to practice the ability to face evil and hatred with firmness, rather than more anger and hatred.
Alice W. Lee, MD
“You Shall Not Pass!”
There is a dramatic moment in the Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s acclaimed trilogy, Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship is racing through the dark caverns of the mines of Moira pursued by a Balrog, a demon from the depths of hell. As they scurry across a bridge, the wizard Gandalf the Grey turns to confront the demon, drawing on all the power of his magic to make himself a barrier to protect his fleeing companions. Standing firm, he yells to the Balrog, “You shall not pass!”
Humanity is facing its own Balrog moment. Around the world, hatred is feeling emboldened to pursue and enforce an agenda of division and brokenness based on the false superiority of one group over another. This hate can take many forms and march under the banner of many causes. It has shown up as ISIS. It has appeared as extreme forms of nationalism. It showed up this past month in Charlottesville, Virginia. Hate will continue to appear in the future until there is no place for it in the world. For that to happen, it falls to each of us in our lives to stand up to this momentum of hatred and division and say, “You shall not pass! This shall not be your world!”
Spiritual teachers and leaders, as well as others, routinely exhort us to be loving towards each other and to not meet hatred with hatred. There are excellent reasons for this, for the spirit of hatred doesn’t care in whose heart and mind it lives, only that it is being given expression. But loving can be a challenge. There are few of us who do not have our own Balrogs lurking in the dark corners of our anxiety, ready to strike out at whatever causes us fear, ready to attack and destroy whatever we don’t like. But if we are truly to keep the forces of hatred from rampaging through our world, we can’t become Balrogs ourselves. Giving hate license to emerge, even if seemingly for a good cause, only exacerbates the problem. “You shall not pass!” applies to our own darker impulses as well.
There is a difference between establishing a boundary that says a firm “No!” to attitudes and actions that divide and cause suffering, and becoming hateful ourselves towards those who espouse such behavior. It requires self-knowledge and inner discipline to manifest the former and not the latter. It becomes easier when we make lovingness a habit. This can take many forms: kindness, compassion, honoring another, listening, learning. Love is a spirit of inclusion that accepts and honors the plurality and diversity of the world and is comfortable with complexity and difference. Love grows out of a healthy sense of sovereignty and respect for one’s own boundaries and care for the sovereignty and boundaries of others. It grows out of taking practical actions to demonstrate its presence and power. It grows out of consistent practice even when faced with circumstances that might otherwise appeal to and evoke our inner Balrogs.
We are complex people who nonetheless love simplicity. Simple things are easier to understand and control and therefore feel safer. This preference gives rise to monocultures, the attempt to reduce the complexity of the world into sameness, stripping away the hard edges of differences and rounding everything off into conformity of belief and action. Whether this monoculture is environmental, political, religious, racial, or cultural, it always flies in the face of nature’s diversity and the plurality of life. Ultimately, it can only be established through control and violence. Ultimately, it turns love into narcissism.
The arc of human evolution has been to engage with greater and greater complexity, both within the world and within ourselves. It is love that drives us forward along this arc, for it takes a truly loving heart and mind to be open to the diversity that is the nature of the world and the nature of who we are . Hatred pulls us back into an imagined world that bleeds all the colors out of the rainbow and leaves only a grey sameness and conformity, a world that collapses into itself. It denies who we are, what the world is.
It’s vital that when confronted with hatred, we take a stand to say in words and deeds, “This shall not pass!” Otherwise, when we let the Balrogs win, either in ourselves or in our societies, it is we who do not, cannot, pass into what is possible for all of us in partnership and collaboration.
DAVID’S DESK
David’s Desk is my opportunity to share thoughts and tools for the spiritual journey. These letters are my personal insights and opinions and do not necessarily reflect the sentiments or thoughts of any other person in Lorian or of Lorian as a whole. If you wish to share this letter with others, please feel free to do so; however the material is ©2017 by David Spangler.
A Way to Nurture Beautiful Relationships: PAIRS (A Reflection from 2016)
This weekend I had the opportunity to begin my Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS) program, or to be more specific, the PAIRS relationship mastery program, taught by Ellen and Chuck Purcell in Reston, Virginia. Circumstances arose where one of the attendees needed a partner, and I knew Ellen and Chuck, so they kindly offered me the chance to join them.
The course is taught over an entire weekend once per month, from November through May. This weekend’s courses went from 7:30 pm to 10 pm on Friday, and from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Before the weekend, I thought that was an inordinate amount of time learning about how to talk to others. Now that I have attended one weekend, I have realized that I was at the level of learning where “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” Despite years of experience as a psychiatrist, I discovered that I had woefully neglected an entire territory of emotional literacy—the art of communication in intimate relationships.
Although I can’t divulge the specific lessons given in the PAIRS classes, I can share my reflections on the skills and insights I have learned. I will just highlight two below:
1) I learned how to complain. Well, to be more precise, I learned that I didn’t know how to complain. Typically, I preferred to start my complaints with, “I don’t like it when you…” Reasonable right? How else could the other person guess that I’m even complaining, if I didn’t start with those words?
Apparently, this was not the ideal way to complain, because the other person would get defensive if I phrased it like that. Indeed, sadly, I have found this to be the case. Having learned that complaining was not helpful to my relationships, I have tried to avoid the whole thing. But that left me stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I complained, I would usually hurt the other person’s feelings, but if I didn’t complain, my unresolved and unexpressed complaint would get in the way of a better relationship. After taking PAIRS, I learned how to express my complaint in a way that had a better chance of being received by the other person. Chuck and Ellen stressed that it was important for us to reach the other person’s heart, when we expressed a complaint, not just their head.
In class, we were taught to begin a complaint with, “I noticed…” How could that be a complaint? Well, it could lead to a complaint, if one noticed a behavior that one wanted to complain about. So clever, right? What I learned was that complaints could be the first step towards improving a relationship, if we expressed ourselves in a way that facilitated positive change, which would then strengthen our bonds with those we love.
I regret that my parents had not taken a PAIRS class, before I was born. Alas, they had been caught in a couple of wars and were too busy trying to survive. As a result, I had to create my own relationship alphabet that lacked many letters and limited my ability to express myself lovingly and authentically. Before my children get married, I think it would be helpful to offer them the opportunity to attend a PAIRS relationship mastery program with their fiancés. It would be a wonderful way to help them start a new generation of happy, thriving relationships.
2) I learned the importance of listening carefully, mirroring back what had been expressed, and asking for clarification if needed. As much as people may believe they can read another person’s expressions, body language, or actions/inactions, it is best not to do so. Instead, ask questions whenever one is unclear about something. Don’t just make assumptions about the other person, check with the other person to see if one’s interpretation has been accurate. During class, we worked on listening and repeating back what the other person had said. It was awkward, but it forced us to really listen. At the end of class, Chuck read a piece about the importance of listening, rather than trying to fix the problem.
After taking this class, I remembered, with embarrassment and regret, a rather bad communication faux pas that I made over a year ago. At the time, I had confided to a friend that I would never be able to retire, due to all the money I have spent on my children’s college expenses and not being able to put any money aside for my retirement. I may have said something like, “I’ll just have to work until I die of old age!”
To my surprise, my friend exclaimed, with child-like spontaneity, sincerity, and a splash of humor, “You can live with me! I will take care of you, even when you get old!”
To which I replied, “You, take care of me? You get sick more often than I do. How many colds have you had in the past year compared to me? Besides, you have more wrinkles than me.”
I am really sorry I said that. Well, what I said was true, but what I neglected to say and really felt inside was, “That is just about the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I can’t believe how loving and generous you are. Thank you for caring. But my heart is breaking at the thought of being needy, vulnerable and old, especially before you.” Pride kicked in big time, and I communicated poorly. To tell the truth, if our positions were switched, I would have felt the same way about my friend, whom I would tenderly care for, if given the opportunity—no matter how wrinkled, sick, or weak we might be one day.
I hope that, after my PAIRS classes, I will learn how to communicate authentically and to do so with loving skill. Relationships are too precious to ruin through an inept ability to properly communicate what the heart has the right to say.
The Wisdom, Insight, and Power of Patients (A Reflection from 2016)
Being at the crossroads of life as a holistic psychiatrist is truly a privilege and an adventure. Not only is life made more meaningful through service, but at the end of the day, I feel as if I have condensed three day’s worth of living into one busy work day. My artistic nature finds creative expression in nurturing beauty and color back into another human being’s life. In return, patients help me to grow, by teaching me through their lives, how to truly live. I learn from their insightful analogies/metaphors on life, examples of courage, and acts of faith. Because of my patients, I have become more patient, humble, and compassionate. The advantage of a life of service is that it leads to the same transformation and healing being served to others.
I will share just a few experiences from this week, starting with an analogy given by a patient, during a session, that I thought was immensely insightful, not only about herself, but about human nature:
1) We were discussing how she often used dissociation, a coping mechanism, to brush away negative feelings. Several times, I pointed out that she was speaking in a child-like voice, with a shrug, while ignoring her deeper awareness of pain and suffering. The patient also noticed it and, at the same time, was struggling with her inability to stop doing it. She wanted to feel again, but could not, because of her fear that it would lead to a never ending “black hole.”
She said, “I guess it’s like being on autopilot for so long that I’ve forgotten how to do it on my own. And when I try to jury-rig it, it doesn’t quite work the way it should, and I end up crashing.”
I was delighted by her brilliant analogy and told her so. Isn’t that a common problem we all face? I asked her how she could avoid the automatic autopilot response of dissociating her feelings, and instead, become present and engaged with life. This question led to some steps. First, to notice when she is on the verge of going on autopilot. Second, to choose to stay and face whatever life is presenting to her at that moment. And third, to love herself, even if she jury-rig the process and fail to do it perfectly. For, how else can anyone learn to shift and grow?
2) “After I leave, she needs to sanitize this sofa,” he said loudly, while waiting in the waiting room. He was grimy, because he had been homeless. When I looked at him, I had the impression that, if he had a good shower, he might not look so tanned. He reeked of alcohol and slurred his words through half-closed eyes. He was emotionally, cognitively and socially impaired. His mother had brought him in that evening for some urgent care. His diagnosis was bipolar II, and he had not been taking his medications. Instead, he had taken a bottle of cough syrup that morning, which he said, “worked well for me.”
As I handed him some supplements to swallow in the waiting room: Li-Zyme Forte, Recancostat (glutathione), and Ultra-CBD (hemp oil cannabinoids), he took them trustingly, all the while, talking himself into doing it, saying, “It’s just supplements, natural stuff; it’s not going to hurt me.”
While typing out a nutritional regimen for him in my office, thoughts flowed into my mind, as if angels were whispering to me: he has the divine light within him. God lives through him and knows his suffering. God loves him and knows who he really is. A warm feeling of compassion and respect for the patient accompanied these thoughts.
When we ended around 10 p.m., we shook hands and looked into each other’s eyes. I saw intelligence and goodness there, and I hoped that he could feel my genuine compassion for him and remember the divine within him, keeping him company, no matter what.
3) The patient had been tearful and irritable during the week, despite lowering some of her antipsychotic medication for the past several days. “Perhaps,” I thought, “she needs more medication and not less. Perhaps I had made a mistake, by tapering her antipsychotic medication too quickly.”
I did an analysis, using muscle testing, to check for the patient’s qualitative function, and the results indicated that the patient was on too much medication, not too little. I had been too conservative with the taper and not aggressive enough. This was it. After six months of treatment, we would need to stop the remaining 0.3 mg of Risperdal. To do so would go against my training and would require courage and faith in following the testing results. I shared my results and conclusion with the family and patient, looking a little concerned, worried and apologetic.
“Yes!” the mother said exultantly, triumphantly pumping her fist in the air, “Finally!”
Her daughter smiled also, looking pleased and happy.
I looked at both of them and blinked in surprise. “You’re not worried about stopping the medication?” I asked.
“We’ve been slowly getting to this point over a long time. It makes perfect sense. It’s just a little bit of medication. No, I’m not worried,” the mother replied confidently.
“Well, call me, if you have any concerns this week,” I called out, as they left the office, after going over what to watch for, if the withdrawal didn’t work.
“She’ll be all right,” the mother said. Her reassuring smile comforted me, despite my trepidation from ten years of medical brainwashing.
As I closed the office door, I marveled at her and her daughter’s courage, faith and strength, and hoped that all will go smoothly for them. Withdrawing from an antipsychotic is to risk the possibility of psychosis, to lose one’s ability to think logically. To taper, nonetheless, requires tremendous faith and courage. For a thousand, thousand times, I have witnessed such faith and courage in my patients and their families. Without their strength and determination, I would have given up such work a long time ago. Where the darkness is darkest is where we see the brightest light shine. What a wonderful privilege and honor it is, for me to accompany my patients and their families, on their healing journey.
Matter and Energy: Colleagues Along the Healing Journey (A Reflection from 2016)
Over the past three months, I have attended three integrative medicine conferences. Each has taught me a great deal about diet, supplements, and medication side effects. While attending, I met a number of colleagues, who were relatively new to the field of integrative medicine. I empathized with them, remembering how hard it had been for me to change my paradigms on healing. It’s difficult to digest the idea that nutrition could be powerful medicine, much less learn the ton of material being presented.
A number of times, I was questioned by them about what I have learned over the years and had the opportunity to share my expertise and experiences. Sometimes, as I spoke, the clinician(s) would write down the information on her cell phone—information on supplements, organizations, and energy medicine techniques. Some have followed up since these conferences, to collaborate with me in their clinical work.
Although I could share information about supplements and organizations with ease, and they received the information readily, I struggled mightily when it came to discussing energy medicine and how it contributed to a patient’s ability to heal also. In fact, without my tools in energy medicine, I know I would not have been able to help my patients taper off medications safely, even if I had been adept with every supplement on the planet. It was a frustrating, lonely experience to fail at explaining this half of my healing approach.
I have called energy medicine “the quantum physics of healing.” It was a term that best defined it, and I came up with that phrase long before the book, “The Quantum Doctor” by Amit Goswami, Ph.D., was ever published. Energy medicine is to functional medicine what an atom bomb is to a cannon ball. The power of energy medicine is immense and multifaceted. I have used it over the past 13 years to easily access helpful information through muscle testing. Doing so had allowed me to create appropriate and complex nutritional regimens that adapted to the needs of the patient through real time, thus, paving the way for a safer medication withdrawal process.
In addition, energy medicine, in the form of meditation recordings, helped my patients to efficiently adapt to lower medication dosages (See the recording, Minimizing Medication Withdrawal Problems). For example, one important adaptation was the need to decrease the number of receptors, once a medication’s blocking effects had been reduced. Not every consequence of medication withdrawal could be addressed through a supplement or diet. It is crucial to the withdrawal process to be able to access necessary information and energy to help the process along.
Describing what energy medicine techniques can do is the easy part. The hard part is describing how to do it. This problem reminds me of an interaction I had with a friend and colleague, Vincent Gouwy, O.D. He is an osteopathic physician working in Belgium, who does energy healing work in his practice. I met him at an International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS) conference, where he presented on NDEs being a shift in consciousness. As a child, he had the ability to see light above people’s heads. He doesn’t see such things anymore. Yet, he told me one day, “You’re just glowing and glowing!”
A few days later, I asked, “How can you tell if you can’t see light?”
He responded, “I simply can ☺” And that was that.
Basically, the best way to summarize how to do energy medicine is: You simply can. Or, you can’t—because the Jeffrey Dahmer types would probably have a very difficult time indeed. The beauty and problem of learning energy medicine lie in its reliance on the instrument of healing and intuiting—you. How Life Energy flows through you depends on who you are (your energy state) and not what you have. If you are innately honest, chances are that muscle testing, to distinguish between true vs. false information, would come easily to you. If your energy has always been positive and uplifting to others, chances are that sending healing energy will come naturally to you as well.
It all depends on your connection and oneness with the universal field of Life Energy, a force whose effects can easily be demonstrated through muscle testing.
If we can separate content from process in healing, then supplements/nutritional interventions would be the backbone of content, and energy medicine would be the backbone of process. Matter and information, together, the two make the journey of healing doable from beginning to end.
The Glass Ceiling: A Barrier and an Opportunity (A Reflection from Election 2016)
In this historic presidential election, Hillary Clinton has the opportunity to break “the glass ceiling,” the metaphorical barrier that sets limits on women and minorities. Hillary Clinton’s glass ceiling is the current prejudice against a woman becoming president of the United States. In the article, “If Hillary Clinton Groped Men,” Nicholas Kristof asks, “Is there a double standard for women in politics?” He illustrates the contrast in social standards for the two presidential candidates by cleverly exchanging Donald Trump’s name with Hillary Clinton’s.
What might be tolerated or ignored due to male stereotyping suddenly appears ludicrous and unacceptable if performed by a woman. The gender shift effect capitalized in Kristof’s article is strangely enlightening and startling.
As a minority and a woman, I think glass ceilings are a personally relevant and fascinating topic. As a psychiatrist and artist, it is natural for me to ponder on its subtle influence within our psyches, or to want to write an essay about its nature. But . . . as a human being cut by its sharp edge, glass ceilings lose their intellectual distance and take on flesh and blood—four dimensional experiences, with human faces that leave one flailing at the emotional cliff edge.
What is a glass ceiling? To me, it represents the expectations and assumptions that form stereotypes and social roles, which confine and define individuals within society. By accepting the glass ceiling, we allow two-dimensional caricatures to replace a full and authentic life. In essence, the glass ceiling is the groundless, baseless “cannot” that initially comes from without, but later becomes the “cannot” from within. We yield to its invisible and silent presence, to fit ourselves into categories, labels, and roles, following its dictates, and letting go of our dreams and aspirations.
I have had a few experiences with glass ceilings. Growing up in Utah, being Chinese put me in a class of my own, far more so than if I were raised in a melting pot such as New York City. In addition, the LDS (Mormon) culture, to which I belonged, heavily emphasized the godly role given to women to be homemakers, leaving little doubt in young minds that other worldly pursuits would undermine that role.
I felt the glass ceiling in high school, when I set a precedent at Bountiful High as the first Junior Class Officer, who didn’t have a date to Junior Prom and therefore, could not attend—sending me the message that I may be popular, but not that popular. In college, my first marriage proposal went something like this, “I would marry you in a heart beat, but you are a shoe-in for medical school, and I’ve always wanted to have a family with twelve children.” Meaning, I needed to choose between being the housewife to those twelve, delightful children, or look forward to a lonely future as a spinster-doctor. Obviously, another lucky woman has had the pleasure of handling that homemaking experience.
I hit the glass ceiling again, when I chose integrative approaches for my psychiatric practice and used it to lower patients’ medications. For that choice, the Maryland Board challenged me through the Board review process, stating that integrative approaches were “outside the standard of care.” Fortunately, I broke that glass ceiling with the help of a tough attorney, Jacques Simon.
Needless to say, I don’t like glass ceilings.
However, they have taught me a great deal about myself: who I am and who I can be. Glass ceilings challenge us with the questions, “Do we dare to live courageously and authentically beyond the limits set by someone else?” And, “Will we be the Columbus of our life journey? Or, will we stay put, fearing the oblivion of the uncharted?” Rhetorical questions, you may think, but not so rhetorical in real life.
Glass ceilings can be viewed as the boundary where the “I am” bumps into the “You are not.” Encountering it invites us to peer past the limits we had taken for granted. We discover that the “impossible” was only waiting for our imagination to enlarge a little, our paradigm to shift a bit, and our vision to focus on a further point. By doing so, we transform glass ceilings into opportunities, just as this election is illustrating on the political stage.
You and I have glass ceilings waiting for us to break. I encourage us to break them, whether you are male or female, young or old, rich or poor. As I write this, a story by Dr. Seuss comes to mind. In this story, the boy starts off on his journey through life and experiences some difficult times. At the end of the story, Dr. Seuss writes:
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know,
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact,
And remember that Life’s
A Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So…
Be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
Or Moredcai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss
Pick a glass ceiling to break today!
The Parable of the Banquet/The Parable of the Treasure
The Parable of the Banquet
Once there was a child who sat at a banquet table laden with delicious food. Two attendants were assigned to the room to serve the food. Each day, the child sat down at the table and waited for the attendants to fulfill their duties. However, due to various distractions, the attendants seldom brought the child enough to eat, and so the child went to bed each night hungry. In fact, the child came to notice that the attendants were half-starved themselves, not knowing how to reach the food or how to serve it; and often, when they were able to get to some food, they fed themselves first, putting only leftover crumbs on the child’s plate.
Day after day and week after week, this pattern continued. The child tried everything to get the attendants to bring more food. But nothing changed.
In that country, attendants have always served the children’s meals. Some children had good attendants, who fed the children properly. However, there were others who did not have good attendants. The children were either well fed or thin, depending on how their attendants fulfilled their roles.
Then, one day, the child reached for the food on the table and ate it. And that was the beginning of how hunger ended in that country.
The Parable of the Treasure
Once there was a little child who set off down the road, with a little pouch tied at the end of a stick slung over one shoulder. He was going out, to explore the world. In his pouch was a great treasure he valued. Because this treasure meant so much to him, he went wherever the treasure directed him and did whatever it required him to do. And often, along his journey, he would pause to admire his treasure, thinking to himself, “Some day...”
The road was a long and winding one, sometimes going uphill and sometimes blocked by obstacles. The child met the challenges along the way, inspired by his treasure, growing stronger and wiser with each passing year.
The child grew and became an adult. The adult grew and became an old man. One day, the old man paused by the side of the road, to open his pouch, to once again admire the treasure that he had carried over his shoulder all his life. Out of the pouch, ragged with wear, he pulled a picture of himself as a child, dressed as a king on a stage, surrounded by admiring subjects. He was about to say, for the hundredth time, “Someday…” when he paused. Looking down at his dusty feet that had walked a thousand miles and worn hands that had created a thousand wonders, he said softly to himself, “I am enough.” And with that, he left his pouch behind and continued on his way.
Reflections and Clinical Pearls from the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health (IMMH) 2016 Conference
“My boy, you’ve got to remember it. You’ve got to remember the exact spot and the exact marks the boat lay in when we had the shaolest water, in every one of the five hundred shoal places between St. Louis and New Orleans; and you mustn’t get the shoal soundings and marks of one trip mixed up with the shoal soundings and marks of another, either, for they’re not often twice alike. You must keep them separate.”
When I came to myself again, I said:
“When I get so that I can do that, I’ll be able to raise the dead, and then I won’t have to pilot a steamboat to make a living. I want to retire from this business. I want a slush-bucket and a brush; I’m only fit for a roustabout. I haven’t got brains enough to be a pilot; and if I had I wouldn’t have strength enough to carry them around, unless I went on crutches."
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain pp 43-44
This is one of my favorite quotes of all time. I can really relate to it, having been through medical school, residency, and many conferences since. One would think that, after 14 years of experience in integrative medicine, I might be able to finish a conference feeling positive about my level of expertise. Let that hope be buried forever. No, I am doomed to feel as Mark Twain did in the quote above: overwhelmed, humbled, and feeling “only fit for a roustabout.”
It is true, as Albert Einstein said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”
After the last day of the conference, as I arrived at Sweetgreens, a salad restaurant, alone, feeling dejected and somewhat sorry for myself, I saw two other attendees sitting at a table. Putting on a smile, I asked if I could join them, and they graciously included me. As we started chatting about the conference, we began to talk about integrative medicine and patient care.
As I shared with them my clinical experiences in psychiatric care, their eyes lit up, and they began to ask me questions about all the things that I actually knew. As I shared what I knew, I felt like a fount of wisdom. One woman said, “Thank you so much! This is the best part of the conference!” And so life teaches us to be humble, but also to be aware of the wealth we carry, so that we can learn to share as comrades along our journey.
Here are some clinical pearls from the conference:
1) The importance of slowing down our breath: breathing 5-6 breaths per minute improves the heart rhythm, strengthens the parasympathetic nervous system, relaxes the body, and supports healing. On the other hand, avoid rapid, forced breathing, or holding one’s breath, because it can induce anxiety and even seizures. The ideal “dosage” is 20 minutes twice daily.
2) The gut-brain connection: in repeated lectures, we were taught about the importance of a healthy gut for proper mental health. The critical nature of the gut microbiome system was also illustrated recently in my clinical work, when a patient’s mental health suddenly deteriorated rather mysteriously.
She had been lowering her psychotropic medications and had been doing very well for many months. The process had been described by her mother as “miraculous.” As I tried to figure out why the patient was suddenly not doing well, the mother informed me that the patient had stopped taking Nystatin abruptly, a medication to reduce fungal growth, about two weeks ago, and she had forgotten to tell me about this change.
The recommendation came from another holistic doctor, who had prescribed Nystatin in the first place. After some diagnostic testing, I decided to put the patient back on a slightly lower dosage of Nystatin. Within a week, the patient’s mental status stabilized. What was interesting was that the patient had a bad case of sinusitis during her recovery. I had read that chronic sinusitis is often associated with fungal growth in the sinuses. So, I suspect that stopping the Nystatin not only increased the fungal problem in the gut, but also in the patient’s sinuses.
3) The harmful role of Statins and the importance of Cholesterol: a whole lecture was devoted to the scientific evidence against the use of Statins. Much was shared about the dangers of having low cholesterol levels. Anything below 160 increases health problems exponentially. For older individuals, a cholesterol level of 100 increased the death rate to four times higher than having a cholesterol level in the 220’s. What an amazing thing to learn!
The use of statins worsens memory and increases irritability. Its preventative benefits are minuscule and pale in comparison to proper diet and exercise. Bottom line: avoid taking Statins. The scientific and clinical data do not support its use.
At the Center of Healing is...
“To love yourselves is the final hurdle,
The definitive frontier of humanity.”
“Let me remind you,
Love is not something to be earned.
It cannot be judged,
Meted out, or taken away.
Love is something that you are.”
Immanuel’s Book III pp 143, 150
These quotes taken from “Immanuel’s Book III, What is an Angel Doing Here?” belong to a series of books compiled by Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton. The passages in these books flow like poetry and are replete with profound wisdom such as the quotes above. Reading any chapter provided by Immanuel is like walking through the Smithsonian Art Museum, where precious masterpieces are hung row upon row, and room after room. The richness of the experience is intense, dense, and elevating. For those who have never heard of the Immanuel’s Book Series, I would highly recommend them as a life-long resource for comfort and peace.
These particular quotes remind us that we are here to be love, rather than to earn love. Like a lighthouse shining on a dark sea, we have within us the innate memory of and the ability to share real love. Through love, the gravity, entropy, chaos, violence, ignorance, fear and illness that are part of this world can be transformed.
The Filters We Use
Steve, our sunset photography teacher, paused dramatically before sharing a secret trick to make waterfalls flow like silk threads, and people disappear on busy landscapes. He held up a special filter, as if he was showing off a fist-sized ruby from a maharaja, and explained how we could use it.
The idea, I believe, was that cameras set at long exposure times would not record images that didn’t hold still during the entire exposure period, and that this special filter protected images from being overexposed to light during an especially long exposure time.
How?
The filter—the variable neutral density filter—could be adjusted to limit the amount of light entering the eye of the camera.
My thoughts drifted to a similar situation that occurred several weeks ago, at a restaurant…
I was having lunch with a woman and was listening to her experiences about her trip to Japan, where she had accompanied her husband over the course of many days. Her conversation centered on the horrors she experienced with Japanese cuisine, in particular, sushi. I recall that the conversation drifted later to politics, where she shared some defamatory gossip about a particular politician (who I liked). Not wanting to get into an argument over politics, I simply smiled and listened. This individual had repeatedly expressed to me an admiration and desire for being “positive,” but was clearly struggling that day.
Like a camera set at a long exposure time, she could not register certain events, people, or emotions that flowed through her landscape of life, for they moved too quickly, as if their vibrations were too fast for the eye of her life camera to perceive and capture. (Oh, look at those beautiful Japanese women, with their long, flowing black hair! Wow, this city is teeming with such energy! I am so lucky to experience such a different culture than what I have been used to.) She perceived the negative impressions and experiences everywhere she went as being normal, because she had a filter that prevented light from entering her I.
Of course she is not the only one, who suffers from the unfortunate effects of light preventing filters and life cameras, which fail to capture the higher vibrations of joy, love, and peace. We all do, to a certain extent.
Just a few days ago, my brother talked about how ideal my life circumstances were, and how wonderful he imagined it must be to live the way I did. I, on the other hand, had just written a poem a week before, lamenting my place in life, just as he was doing with me at that moment.
As we talked, I became more grateful for my life. We all struggle with filters that prevent light from entering our lives, some more than others. All too often, we remember the negative experiences and think that is reality and normality. In the meantime, our life cameras are missing the experiences of light that could bring us greater joy, love, peace, and abundance. In other words, if we focus on rapidly capturing light when exposed to it, we re-image-in beauty and goodness back into our lives.
Unfortunately, our sunset photography class was located at a place where we could not see a sunset, whatsoever. Clouds got in the way. However, in light of the lesson I learned about filters, I think it went well enough.
To Give Credit Where Credit is Due by Allan N. Spreen, MD
The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC
An interesting article on the use of nutrition in the treatment of psychosis:
Click here to see a web copy of this news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 17, 2017
To Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Commentary by Allan N. Spreen, MD
(OMNS, Jan 17, 2017) It caused me a degree of chagrin to read the interview published by Medscape on Nov. 8, 2016, concerning the possibility of a nutritional supplement preventing mental illness.[1]
The interview is with a Dr. Robert Freedman, the psychiatrist who treated James Holmes, the man involved in the shooting of twelve movie-goers in a theater in 2012. Since clearly the current treatment of such individuals appears to leave something to be desired, the article discusses the possibility of a lack of a properly functioning nicotinic acetylcholine receptor being involved in mental disorders.[2] This receptor type is widely distributed in the brain. Dr. Freedman realized that, because a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor binds nicotine from tobacco smoke, it might explain the "very heavy rates of smoking in patients with schizophrenia; they might be self-medicating to increase activity of the faulty receptor."
The detailed interview latches onto the possibility that some pregnant women may have a deficiency of choline (which I don't doubt for a moment, along with many other deficiencies), due to its apparent ability to affect acetylcholine receptors in the brain.
The discussion quickly segues into the world of genetics, as he mentions the discovery that "There are also genetically (sic) abnormalities in the regulation of choline, some of which are also associated with schizophrenia." Other genes associated with schizophrenia are touched upon, putting the discussion into the realm of today's technically hot (and scientifically acceptable) topic of gene research. There is no mention of epigenetics, which alters all sorts of genetic factors.
When asked, "What other preventive measures for mental illness have been studied?" Dr. Freedman asserts, "There's not much out there." (emphasis added) He also laments the fact that "(t)he National Institutes of Health are not currently funding any trials of interventions in humans during pregnancy to prevent mental health problems." I certainly have to agree with him there, though one always must look carefully at some of the past results obtained.
A Patient's Letter to Abram Hoffer:
"I "lost" my mind after my third child was born. I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was put on lithium and Paxil. For the next two years I lived life from the couch with not enough energy to cook meals or respond to the children's needs. I cycled every three days and dealt with almost constant horrible suicidal thoughts. My weight grew from 123 to 200lbs until I discovered nutritional therapy."
"My mental symptoms disappeared within just a few weeks of supplementing with niacin and other vitamins. I was then able to get off the medications that were making me so lethargic."
"Now I have my life back, and my children have their mother back. I feel very fortunate to have your research and that of others in your field to back up the "miraculous" healing that I experienced. It gives me much comfort and assurance that I am not the only one being helped so tremendously by megavitamin therapy."
"Sincerely, Nicole and children:" (Letter to Abram Hoffer, originally published in the Doctor Yourself Newsletter, Vol 2, No 25, Nov 5, 2002.)
Now, to prevent any confusion in the reader's mind, the type of acetylcholine receptor mentioned in the article by Dr. Freeman, a "nicotinic acetylcholine receptor", is one of two classes of acetylcholine receptor (the other being muscarinic) in the brain. A nicotinic receptor opens a membrane ion channel to activate a neuron when it senses the presence of nicotine. The reader should not make the mistake that a "nicotinic receptor" could be functionally related to "nicotinic acid," another name for niacin. Although niacin was originally derived from nicotine, they are different molecules and have different biochemical functions in the body.[3] Niacin does not bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mentioned by Dr. Freeman. However, niacin has a long history of correcting mental illness problems including schizophrenia.[4,5]
Not to rain too hard on anyone's parade, but in a topic as serious as schizophrenia (and its effects on anyone near the disorder), it is somewhat mind-blowing that, when specifically studying the effect of nutrition on the brain, the pioneering work of Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, is totally ignored. Well over half a century ago, and without the advent of advanced genetics, Dr. Hoffer (and others) found an important link between niacin and schizophrenia.[4-7] The identification of a specific gene was less important, clinically, than the finding that there was a biochemical problem with the body's ability to either absorb, or assimilate niacin, otherwise known as vitamin B-3. Using niacin in (sometimes very) high doses (dare I say 'megadoses'?), he found that the delusions of schizophrenia could be successfully controlled!
"Like the author, it blows me away the way Dr. Hoffer's explanation of the relationship of niacin to schizophrenia is dismissed. Finding a solid biochemical basis for disease surely beats what is revealed from being on the couch." - Ralph Campbell, MD
On the more personal side, this niacin treatment certainly was a major factor in the recovery of my sister, who was institutionalized, our parents told that she would never be a useful, productive member of society; "It's permanent," they said. "Drug her up and get over it." Eighteen months after Dr. Hoffer's intervention with niacin, she was accepted to law school, graduating, on time, as an attorney. (Whether that qualifies as a useful, productive member of society is a separate issue.)
It saddens me that such powerful and insightful work, available for over half a century, can be totally overlooked, particularly when the topic is the treatment of schizophrenia using dietary nutrients.[8] My personal opinion is that, once the moniker of "orthomolecular" or "megavitamin" is applied, useful and effective therapies can end up being ignored. In this case, an old "wheel" of preventing illness with diet was reinvented, and perhaps the new one isn't even totally round: I'm for choline, too, but I'm also for inositol along with the entire membership of the B-complex, in amounts that get the job done on an individual basis.[8,9]
If one cares to look, there's a lot out there. Grateful thanks to Dr. Abram Hoffer for starting us on this productive pathway so many years ago.
To learn more:
Interview with Dr. Hoffer:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/Hoffer2009int.pdf , from Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 24, No. 3, 2009.
Niacin Therapy as Used by Dr. Hoffer:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_niacin.html
Dr. Hoffer's Detailed Reply to Critics of Niacin Therapy
http://www.doctoryourself.com/APA_Reply_Hoffer.pdf
A Short Autobiography:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/life_hoffer.html
Schizophrenia:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_anecdote.html , from Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 10, No. 2, 1995.
Vitamin C Therapy for Cancer Patients:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_cancer_2.html
Niacin, Coronary Disease and Longevity:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_cardio.html
References:
1. Stetka B, Freedman R "Can a Prenatal Supplement Prevent Mental Illness?", Medscape Family Medicine - Medscape Psychiatry, Nov 8, 2016. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/871311?src=WNL_infoc_161119_MSCPEDIT&uac=120541EV&impID=1236300&faf=1
2. Freedman R. Alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists for cognitive enhancement in schizophrenia. Annu Rev Med. 65:245-261, 2014.
3. Laurence Brunton L, Chabner B, Knollman B. Chapters 11, 31 in: Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill Education / Medical; 12 edition, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-0071624428.
4. Hoffer AF, Osmond H, Smythies, Schizophrenia: a New Approach. II. Results of a Year's Research. J. Mental Sci. 100: 29-45, 1954.
5. Hoffer A, Osmond H, Callbeck MJ & Kahan I: Treatment of schizophrenia with nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. J. Clin. Exper. Psychopathol. 18:131-158, 1957.
6. Hoffer A, "Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry," CC Thomas, Springfield Ill, 1962.
7. Hoffer A, Saul AW. Niacin: The Real Story: Learn about the Wonderful Healing Properties of Niacin. Basic Health Publications. (2015) ISBN-13: 978-1591202752.
8. Ames BN, Elson-Schwab I, Silver EA. High-dose vitamin therapy stimulates variant enzymes with decreased coenzyme binding affinity (increased Km): relevance to genetic disease and polymorphisms. Am J. Clin. Nutr. 57:616-658, 2002.
9. Hoffer A, Saul AW, Orthomolecular Medicine for Everyone: Megavitamin Therapeutics for Families and Physicians. Basic Health Publications, 2008. ISBN-13: 978-1591202264.
Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine
Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org
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Unity Walk 2016: Know Your Neighbor
I am lucky to have culturally enlightened friends, who are willing to have me tag along when they do culturally enlightened activities. If it weren’t for them, my leisure activities would sink to watching movies and going shopping.
Instead, I had the privilege of attending the Interfaith Walk, entitled, “Unity Walk 2016: Know Your Neighbor.” This event successfully drew hundreds of people together, to commemorate 9/11. On Sunday, this September 11th, everyone walked down Massachusetts Ave., in Washington, D.C., and visited various religious centers of worship, to demonstrate unity through religious tolerance. We were rewarded with delicious curry dishes at the Sikh Gurdwaras temple, lemonade and cookies at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See to the United States, as well as other treats from each place we stopped to see. We had a lot of fun, along with a healthy exposure to different places of worship. I came to know my neighbors.
One particular neighbor I especially enjoyed getting to know is the Washington National Cathedral, which I have never visited in all the decades that I have lived in the DC metropolitan area. Would “stamping out mental illness” and raising children--who invited me to watch Winnie the Pooh and Teletubbies for ten years—be sufficient excuses for my neglect of such a glorious edifice? No? I didn’t think so, because, here, awe and beauty found form through stained glass, gothic arches, light and music.
Lighting candles at the Cathedral
The program included twelve open houses:
Opening ceremony: 1:30pm at Washington Hebrew Congregation
The program will include: Greetings by Rabbi Lustig, Washington Hebrew Congregation, a prayer offered by a leader from the Sikh Gurdwara DC, and a musical send off by David Shneyer and a group of musicians from Kehila Chadasha.
Open House Block 1: 1:50pm-3pm
Embassy Church
Annunciation Catholic Church
Sikh Gurdwara
Washington National Cathedral
St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Open House Block 2: 3pm-4:15pm
Community of Christ Church
Soka Gakkai- USA, Buddhist Cultural Center
St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral
Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See to the United States
Indian Consulate
Closing Ceremony: 4:30pm, The Islamic Center of Washington, DC
The program will include: Remarks by Rev. Jim Winkler, President of the National Council of Churches, and a performance by Mosaic Harmony, a local interfaith choir.
The tolerance, compassion and connection that united people, during the Walk, are the same instruments used to mend broken hearts in various psychotherapeutic settings, because the universal bond that heals is unconditional love.
There are innumerable religions as well as innumerable psychotherapeutic approaches. And that is a good thing. For, it is through religious and therapeutic diversity that the diverse needs of the human race are served; the message of love is uniquely conveyed; and the burden of healing is shared.
Kahlil Gibran expressed the ideals of the Interfaith Walk, in the following quotes:
God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.
I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.
May I echo his sentiments, in my walk as a holistic and integrative psychiatrist:
No matter how many doors we seem to walk through, nothing separates healing from truth and love.
Obtaining Your Heart’s Desire and the Meaning of Cinderella's Glass Slipper
In the movie Cinderella (2015, directed by Kenneth Branagh), women flocked from all over the country to try on the glass slipper. It would seem to be such an easy task to fit a shoe . . . but the shoe didn’t fit anyone. I wondered, “Why did all the women line up to try on someone else’s shoe? Why didn’t someone say, ‘That is not my shoe. Even if it fits, it doesn’t belong to me.’?” And why, I wondered, didn’t the shoe fit? I mean, we all know that the size of a shoe isn’t unique to each human foot. The answers to these questions seemed trivial, until the day I found myself comforting a friend.
She was feeling very sad and foolish, right after ending a relationship with a man. She thought their love was the real thing, since he had all the qualities of a prince charming: brilliant, handsome, accomplished, and ardent. In her desire for the relationship to flourish, she ignored some precautionary advice about his character. My mind dug deeply for some comforting words for this dear friend. I found myself talking about all the women who had lined up to try on the glass slipper, and I said, “I think the glass slipper symbolizes the way to true love. Everyone wants true love and wants to fit whatever or whoever will make it happen, regardless.” We talked about how human it was to ignore the red flags that tell us when a relationship wouldn’t be a good fit and wouldn’t lead to real love, because we desire true love so very deeply.
Beyond this insight, however, we may wonder, “Why a glass slipper?” Can we learn something from this chosen symbol? What we know is that glass is transparent, and a slipper is for walking. Perhaps these two qualities point to, not only the need for a good fit, but also the importance of being transparent in one’s footsteps, or in other words, authentic and clear in one’s walk. In this allegory, true love is searching for someone who is a good fit, and someone who could comfortably walk in authenticity.
It brings us to the next question: What has authenticity to do with anything, much less true love? Isn’t true love all about being dressed in beautiful clothes, being chauffeured in a splendid carriage, and dancing with a rich and handsome prince? Where is the authenticity in that? You’re right, there wasn’t much in that. It was all a short-lived illusion. For a while, Cinderella lost herself in that illusion, becoming what she believed she must be—the perfect ideal of what was expected—in order to deserve true love. And perhaps, that is why Cinderella lost her glass slipper and why that lovely fantasy was so short-lived. Cinderella, in losing her authenticity, had to wait for its return, before she could reunite with her prince.
The importance of the glass slipper suggests that true love may require more than a prince, for he wanted to find the maiden who would fit the glass slipper, and none else. The glass slipper was the essential test for recognizing her and for eliminating other enthusiastic imposters. What could this teach us, on a deeper level? Perhaps, it suggests that we think a little differently about the word “true” in true love—that, it refers not about the other, but about ourselves. So often, we believe that if the circumstances and the person were perfect, true love would occur. But if that were the case, the story of Cinderella would have ended at the perfectly wonderful ball. It would not make sense for her to abandon the prince, or lose her slipper. She would have married the prince after that dance and lived happily ever after. No, true love is harder to obtain than that. True love begins when we have the courage to remain authentic to who we truly are.
In the climax of the story, the wicked stepmother locked Cinderella in the attic and prevented her from trying on her glass slipper when the opportunity arrived. Who, or what, was the wicked stepmother? Perhaps she represented the part of us that rejected and denigrated our authenticity and locked it away, despite our desire to be freely and openly authentic. The stepmother had impossibly high expectations, drove Cinderella to work relentlessly, and valued her only for her usefulness. How often have we treated ourselves in this way? How often have we denied our creative longings and created, instead, our own emotional and mental prisons?
The reason for this harsh imprisonment can be found in the end of the movie, as Cinderella walked down the staircase to meet the prince. She is dressed in rags. Her carriage, long gone. She is afraid that she will be scorned and rejected. Will the prince accept her as she is? What courage it takes to face the answer to that profound question! When she puts on her glass slipper, she will be seen and known as she is. Will she be loved as she is? Our eyes well with tears as, of course, her prince rewards her courage with true love, and finally, her heart’s desire is fulfilled, in one of the most beautiful and beloved of fairy tales—and in the tale, at the heart, of all humanity.
For further reading
An interesting book that explores the deeper meaning of fairy tales is:
The Uses of Enchantment, The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, by Bruno Bettelheim, 1975
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Power Tapping Approach: Acupressure Approach for Resolving Problems
The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a well-known acupressure technique that integrates intention while meridian points are being tapped. EFT has been applied with good success in reducing anxiety, addictions, sensitivities to foods or allergens, traumas, and even delusions. It has been accepted by the American Psychological Association as a viable intervention and has been successfully used at VA hospitals for the relief of PTSD.
Some aspects of this technique to keep in mind:
1) be specific with describing the problem.
2) repeat the process and address the problem from different angles, to improve outcome.
3) applying EFT to early childhood traumas amplifies the healing benefits.
During a session, I would usually do this technique with the patient twice for the same problem, because repetition is helpful. I would often ask my patients to repeat the EFT that I had created for the patient over the course of the week, such as doing it once per day for the following week.
My first experience, in the use of this technique, was in the healing of a six-year-old boy who had a phobia for two years. It resolved, through this technique, and the process took about half an hour. Later this same little boy overcame his fear of swimming in the adult side of the swimming pool, with its greater depth of water, by using this tapping technique.
Over the years, I have seen this technique resolve paranoid delusions. One patient thought her mother and I wanted to poison her through her nutritional supplements. In the middle of tapping on this problem, she became amused at her ridiculous belief and was able to let it go. Another patient reported that her hot flashes, occurring several times per day, resolved after four rounds of tapping.
The EFT Power Tapping approach that I share today is one way of doing EFT, in my practice. It has an additional acupressure point that I have included. I like this approach because it uses alternating tapping, using both hands, which is similar to the alternating tapping approach learned in EMDR, another Thought Field Therapy technique for addressing traumas. So, this Power Tapping approach integrates some aspects of EMDR and EFT into a single technique.
The template below provides step-by-step instructions for the technique. Simply fill in the blanks with the appropriate words, for whatever problem is being addressed. I hope this technique will be helpful to you.
Begin with three energy breaths (this easy meditative approach is recorded and available on my website - click here for easy access.).
Next, rub the area over the left side of the chest (like doing the pledge of allegiance sign), in a clockwise circle, with the palms flat against the chest. While rubbing in a circle, say the following three times:
Even though I’m feeling/ have a problem with __.
I deeply and completely love, accept, and forgive myself and all others.
I forgive myself for __.
I forgive others for __.
And I choose to __.
While tapping the following points, repeat just “the problem”: Feeling/Having a problem with __.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern on top of your head.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern at the beginning of your eyebrows.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern on the side of your head, right by your eyes, in the area of the temples.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern under the eyes.
Use one hand to tap under your nose.
Use one hand to tap under your lips.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern right below the mid-point of your collar bones.
Use a flat fist and tap over the thymus located over chest area, in the middle of the sternum.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern below the nipple point. For women it is at the bottom of the bra, at the mid-point of the ribs.
Use both hands to tap in an alternating pattern at your sides, about 5 inches below the underarms. If you can’t do both sides at once, then do one side at a time.
Tap the inside of the wrists together.
End by tapping the top of the head with both hands in an alternating pattern.
Finish with three energy breaths (once again, this easy meditative approach is recorded and available on my website - click here for easy access).