Comparing the Two Branches of Holistic Healing
Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park at sunset
The human condition depends on both matter and energy, a hybrid of both earthly and ethereal components. As a holistic psychiatrist, I wanted to know how to use the tools in my toolbox to maximize my power to heal, and I wanted to use the most powerful tools possible. That is why, early in my holistic journey, I would wonder as I worked, "Which is more powerful: matter or energy?"
Interventions at the level of matter are represented through orthomolecular and functional medicine. Interventions at the level of energy are represented through energy medicine. How do they compare in efficacy when used to heal mental illness?
One time, I tried to answer this question through energy testing. The surprising success of a patient with chronic paranoid schizophrenia who healed beautifully with supplements and energy medicine tested that 2% of his success was due to supplements and 98% of his success was due to energy medicine.
What did that even mean?
His regimen consisted of around 25 different supplements at one point--a lot of supplements--and he was doing energy work to heal from traumas. Before energy testing, I thought it was reasonable to assume that maybe 70% of his successful healing was due to his nutritional regimen and 30% due to his use of energy healing techniques. But not according to the energy testing result.
There were times when patients couldn't tolerate supplements. Even a 1/2 teaspoon of aloe vera juice caused one patient to break out in hives after consuming it. Yet, that patient was able to get off her anticonvulsant and heal from a debilitating and chronic problem with withdrawal in just four months through energy medicine techniques (not entirely smoothly, of course, but still, quite incredible).
Then there were patients who came in, took a few supplements, and without doing much energy work whatsoever, healed from chronic depression in a couple of sessions and moved on.
Given these clinical experiences, I came up with the "light bulb analogy." A patient is like a light bulb: in order for the light bulb to shine, it needs both the bulb and the electricity. Using functional medicine is like fixing the broken bulb. Using energy medicine is like making sure electricity flows to the bulb. Some people have broken bulbs, but their connection to the electric outlet and wiring is fine. Sometimes patients' bulbs are functioning fine, but the electricity is not connected or the wiring is blocked. And finally, there are patients who have both problems.
So, in the end, I came to realize that my question itself was flawed. Comparing the usefulness and power of functional medicine with energy medicine was not looking at health holistically, but linearly.
Both functional and energy medicine are equally important tools in healing patients from mental illness, and it is important for the clinician to have the ability to discern how to begin, which to begin with, and how to maximize and integrate these tools for each unique patient's needs.