A Unifying Influence in Complementary/Alternative Therapies (Part Two)

In quantum physics, it has been shown that non-local effects may occur. An electron may be understood both as a particle and as a wave function. The universe is so intricately interwoven that every element in it is ultimately influenced by every other element. In other words, the observer cannot be separated from the system that is being observed. Much has been made of the similarities between modern physics and mystical phenomena in excellent books so I shall not belabour these (Capra; Zukav).
It took several decades of research before these observations, that run counter to our ordinary experiences of the world, were accepted. A similar, slow process of acceptance is apparent in assimilating spiritual healing methods and theories
There may be greater difficulty with the acceptance of healing, however, as this involves a shift in world views with far more personal consequences than the abstract and highly theoretical shifts with quantum physics. Many people find it threatening to learn that another person might influence them through thoughts or intentions. Rather than examine and deal with their discomforts, they reject the threatening concepts and distance themselves from those who propose them. This is analogous to the ancient custom of killing the messenger who bears bad news. People who advocate a belief in healing may be discredited and may suffer various discriminations against them. This is a serious hindrance to the funding and conduct of research in subtle energy medicine and publication of papers in this field.

England is a world leader in integrating spiritual healing with conventional medicine.
In the mid 1970s British healers formed a healing organisation that lobbied to allow healers to treat patients in National Health Service hospitals. With one governmental (not medical) decision, 1,500 hospitals were opened to healers.
In the early 1980s, the major healing organisations joined in a Confederation that standardised a code of conduct. The code of conduct was approved by the Royal Colleges of Medicine, Surgery, Nursing and Midwifery. Members of the Confederation offer healing as a complement to conventional medical care.

The Doctor-Healer Network (DHN)
The DHN has provided a forum since 1988 for doctors, nurses and other conventional health care professionals to meet with healers, other complementary therapists and clergy to explore how spiritual healing can be integrated with conventional medical care.
General Practitioners refer patients regularly to healers and some have healers working in their surgeries. A few of the healers are paid under the NHS. Doctors can obtain Postgraduate Education Allowance credits for learning to develop their healing gifts. Two hospital pain centres, three hospital cancer centres, a rheumatology ward and a cardiac rehabilitation centre have healers working there regularly. The Doctor-Healer Network Newsletter shares the experiences of healers and doctors between DHN groups and with interested subscribers around the world. Evidence is accumulating that healing is cost effective (Dixon).

Spiritual healing brings about a harmonisation of body, emotions, mind, community and spirit.
Healing is about treating the person who has the disease, not merely about addressing the disease the person has. This is a conceptual and methodological common denominator amongst many of the complementary therapies - when they are applied in the context of their theoretical bases and not merely as methodological techniques.
Spiritual healing brings about the easing of symptoms, the removal of blocks in energetic flows, the retrieval of repressed memories of emotional hurts, improvements in many illnesses, improvements in relationships and an opening into spiritual awareness. All of these may be achieved with no more than the laying-on of hands or the projection of healing from a distance. In essence, spiritual healing is a holistic therapy.
In my own practice of psychotherapy combined with spiritual healing I find that the healing facilitates the retrieval of emotional traumas underlying physical and emotional problems. Conversely, psychotherapy helps people to digest and process the emotional traumas uncovered and released through healing. My personal belief is that this combination of cognitive, energetic and spiritual elements offers a more thorough 'house-cleaning', but there are others who feel that the healing alone is sufficient or even that the processing of emotional materials is a waste of time or a resistance to the true aims of spiritual healing - i.e., the opening of oneself to spiritual awarenesses.

In conclusion, it would appear that the theories and practices of spiritual healing may offer a unifying theory and a unifying influence in the field of complementary therapies.

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