Three Dynamic Healing Modalities for the Treatment of Substance Use and Co-Occurring Disorders: Aromatherapy, Equine Therapy, and Creative Arts Therapies

This chapter comprises three subchapters, and each subchapter offers a brief introduction to 1 of 3 healing modalities: (1) aromatherapy, (2) equine therapy, and (3) creative arts therapies. All 3 healing processes are considered to be well regarded in the field of addiction treatment. Yet the credibility of each one could benefit from more well-designed, large-scale, randomized controlled trials. Even so, there is significant research supporting the efficacy of each of the 3 treatment modalities. Safety is especially important with impulsive patient populations, such as those with dual diagnoses, addiction and trauma. All three modalities are able to be powerful, and at times transformative, when practiced by qualified health practitioners. For patients who struggle with substance abuse, co-occurring disorders and adverse childhood experiences, especially those who have felt as if they were failed by traditional treatment programs, a non-traditional treatment modality may provide just the right intervention.

Body-Wise: Re-Fleshing Christian Spiritual Practice in Trauma’s Wake

Though Christian Theology profess a God who inhabits flesh, bodies have been historically and systematically ignored and reviled by many institutional expressions of this faith tradition. Even as many core Christian institutions resist the Incarnational symmetry between embodied practice and Christian theological professions, bodies explore and embrace healing modalities at the margins of Christian practice. Using the emerging wisdom of four particular healing explorations along the margins of Christian institutional life, this chapter explores the contours of Christian spiritual practices that fold out of trauma. By focusing on the institutional practices of Kevin Ladd with labyrinths, Shelley Rambo with the Warriors Journey Home project, Sr. Joanna Walsh with trusting touch, and my own Wandering Home Retreat for women, this chapter attends to these contours with an eye toward possibilities for institutional transformation around trauma.

“Heal Thyself”: Holistic Women Healers in Middle America

In chapter 6, “‘Heal Thyself’: Holistic Women Healers in Middle America,” Elaine J. Lawless profiles a local “healing community” of women in or near Columbia, Missouri, who regularly meet and share knowledge about and practice together various healing modalities. In addition to learning from each other, she notes, the women in the group also learn new healing practices offered by healers who were visiting from other areas, so mouth to mouth and hand to hand learning take place all the time. They all claim a holistic approach, which guides their daily lives as well as their healing practices, and includes attention to complex understandings of how mind, body, and spirit work in conjunction within the human body. Through the stories of these women, Lawless offers a unique glimpse into their shared corpus of knowledge and the traditional healing beliefs and practices they espouse, as well as her own place within the healing community.

Distant Healing Intention Therapies: An Overview of the Scientific Evidence

This article provides a broad overview of “distant healing intention” (DHI) therapies, ie, intentional healing modalities claimed to transcend the usual constraints of distance through space or time. We provide a summary of previous reviews and meta-analyses that have explored a diverse array of DHI modalities, outcome measures, and experimental protocols. While some significant experimental effects have been observed, the evidence to date does not yet provide confidence in its clinical efficacy. The purported “nonlocal” nature of DHI raises significant methodological and theoretical challenges. We recommend several avenues for improving future research.

The Birth of the Malaysian Society for Music in Medicine: A Concerted Move to Promote the Use of Music for Therapeutic Purposes

Malaysia is a multi-cultural society and the resulting myriad forms of music played in the nation are an ethnomusicologist’s haven. A simple cross-sample taken across the different kinds of music available reflects a diverse range reflective of much of the Asian region as a whole. Music medicine has existed for as long as the indigenous tribes have lived in the region. Formalized music therapy started in Malaysia approximately two decades ago by way of Western trained music therapists and is still in its infancy in therapeutic usage. As allopathic practitioners increasingly develop an evidence-based holistic mindset to complementary healing modalities, it is hoped that the use of music for therapeutic purposes will increase over time, and be localized for a population that blends Western, Chinese, Indian and indigenous healing systems. Efforts are made to conduct research using music-based intervention to provide evidence for integration of music medicine into Malaysian healthcare.