Why I got in to integrative medicine

By Katherine Shagoury

A couple of months ago, we put a call out asking our community to share why they go in to integrative medicine. I seem to ask this question a lot, possibly because the answers are always so inspiring, heartening, a reminder of the importance of compassion and empathy in patient care.

My hope was to highlight one or two stories as a bit of inspiration to kick off this new year. But this community once again defied my expectations and submitted entry after heartwarming entry.  

While I wish I could share every story I received, I managed to narrow it down to seven that I think perfectly represent the personal connections integrative practitioners have to their work and their patients. I hope you find these as motivating as I did, encouraging that the work the integrative healthcare industry does truly makes a difference.

Eugene’s Story

I wanted to be a baseball pitcher, so I would pitch every day that I could. One day, when I was 12 years old, I woke up and could barely move my arm. My mother worked in a hospital, but no doctor could tell me what was wrong.

The little league worked with a local chiropractor who examined me and said that I had overdone it and caused a misalignment of my elbow and a vertebra in my neck that controlled the arm. He restored normal motion to my neck and elbow, and in no time my arm was as good as new. However, my passion switched from wanting to be a pitcher to wanting to be a Doctor of Chiropractic and help other pitchers. This started me on my journey into integrative medicine.

Thinking that once I became trained in chiropractic, I would find the solution to my problem, I enrolled in The Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. In my second term, I was perplexed and frustrated that despite my training, I could not find the source of my condition. Not even my experienced teachers could help relieve

my pain. A classmate told me about a cutting-edge discipline known as Applied Kinesiology (AK). Though it was not taught at school at the time, it had the reputation as being miraculous for its ability to tap the body’s innate healing power. I saw some impressive demonstrations of AK by upper classmates and became intrigued. As it happened, the founder of AK, George Goodheart, was giving a weekend seminar nearby. I decided I would go to the source to learn more about it. Little did I know that it would be a life-changing experience for me.        

At the seminar, Dr. Goodheart taught about many conditions that could be helped AK methodologies. I listened intently as he said, “Athletes are finely tuned and need to be finely treated.”

Then he specifically talked about how this new approach could dramatically help with athletic injuries. I. was thoroughly impressed by the depth of his knowledge as well as his humility about what he discovered.

After the presentation, I went up to him and shared the story about my ongoing shoulder condition with him. He listened intensely, then asked three specific questions: how it began, where the pain was localized, and what treatments I had undergone. Literally, within minutes, he diagnosed the source of my problem: a slightly separated acromioclavicular joint detectable only through muscle testing and a procedure known as extremity challenging, both specific to AK.

Right on the conference floor, he gave me a light chiropractic adjustment to the shoulder joint. I felt relief for the first time in years. He then prescribed advice about what to do to accelerate the healing process for the strained ligament: how to tape the shoulder properly; some specific exercises and changes in my diet and nutrition. I took detailed notes and left with hope for relief.

Within three months my shoulder was completely cured. I had begun my journey to true health that I follow to this day. Ever since this personal experience of being healed by AK, I have been excited about AK and have made it my life’s work.

—Eugene, DC, DIBAK

Barbara’s Story

As a young nurse, I began to wonder why patients with similar health history and disease would have very different outcomes. What was the impact when one “had the will to live” or “had no spirit left?”

As I journeyed on in my career as a registered nurse, starting in the emergency department, woman’s health, ambulatory care, and currently employee wellness, I noted Western Medicine is an incomplete model. We operate in the Newtonian thought process of system versus whole body, fixing versus healing.

However, in the 30 years of my nursing career, I have seen a shift. Healthcare providers are understanding that the whole-person concept of care is vital. That mind, body, and spirit are the tapestry of the person, and in order to care you need to view the whole tapestry.

Healing doesn’t always involve curing. I have witnessed patients die peacefully, a peace they did not possess when they first were admitted into the hospital. There is a shift in Western healthcare, a slow shift but there is a shift. Healing is a multidisciplinary it is science, it is nature, it is humanity, it is sacred.

I always wanted to be a nurse and one cannot be a nurse without integrating medicine.

—Barbara, RN, BSN, MA, HNB-BC

John’s Story

At roughly age 35, some lower back issues caused me to reevaluate my life. I had a background in athletics, as well as engineering from work and serving in the Air Force, so I decided to explore the health and wellness field. I started off as a Reiki practitioner and transitioned into massage therapy. The whole industry fascinated me—I had found my passion.

Furthering my knowledge and interest in how to best take care of the body, I found myself going deeper into finding as many ways I could to maintain and improve my overall health and sharing it with others in my profession. Throughout my years, I have been combining different things such as martial arts, Tai Chi, Qigong, yoga, pilates, weight training, aerobics, massage therapy, biological medicine, chiropractic care, law of attraction, biology of belief, mindfulness, nutrition, currently enrolled in health coaching program through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, to name a few.

One of my mantras, which I have hanging in my office, states “If things get better with age, I’m approaching magnificent.” I sometimes feel that through the law of attraction, many things have come into my life because of intentions such as the mantra above.  This journey continues as I further my education and exploration in this field.

—John, LMT

Terry’s Story

I got into the idea of nutritional therapy back in high school, reading clinical success stories by doctors and researchers (Linus Pauling, Fred Klenner, etc.) who had gotten impressive results with orthomolecular therapy. It resonated so strongly with me then, that we hold powerful keys to health by choosing clean, whole-food diets and giving to the body abundant sources of the foundational molecules it knows how to put to use.

This nutritional approach is only one aspect of health, of course. But it is mega-powerful and signals to the body (and universe at large) that we support health and balance. I’ve even seen patients on poor diets begin to want whole foods after a few months of taking good vitamin and mineral supplements. Does that not say that the body knows and responds in a healthy way to the information that good nutrition provides?

My first “patient” was my freshman college roommate at [the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]. She had epilepsy and was on daily Dilantin and still had monthly seizures. I made sure she got a simple B complex capsule daily with a meal. She never had another seizure in the year I was with her. Serious encouragement both for her and for me.

I decided I wanted a good grasp of biochemistry and metabolism and wanted to help educate doctors and other healthcare practitioners on how to help their patients in this way. I’ve had a lot of help along the way. Nutritional therapy is as integrative as it gets.

—Terry, MS

Bob’s Story

Like many others, I got into integrative medicine for self-improvement and discovered a new frontier of exciting breakthroughs and opportunities to assist others with their health after hitting a wall in their recovery.

I started taking fish oil (cod liver oil) and vitamin C during middle school in order to improve my personal performance in wrestling while on a restricted diet to keep my weight down. While wrestling in high school and college, I continued to pursue information on the use of nutritional supplements while obtaining degrees in chemistry and then chemical engineering.  

In 1986, I read about the effects of essential fatty acid supplementation.  In 1982 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for the discovery of the essential fatty acid/prostaglandin inflammatory disease metabolism. I continued to explore the research and applications of evening primrose oil and fish oil on health conditions, frequently working with doctors who had given up on medications for their patients.

There was a major shift when I was asked to investigate claims that magnetic products had an effect on the human body. I was surprised by the dramatic improvements some people reported with the use of these products and found no general theory to explain the results from a scientifically consistent basis. After working with over 3,000 people, some with serious health challenges, I was able to summarize the results and start making suggestions on how to improve performance. After a while, a friend showed me how natural energy had similar effects and I studied yoga, Reiki, and qigong. The challenges were always to avoid violations in FDA regulations regarding making medical claims for products and techniques that had not gone through the FDA process and to develop a means to earn a living in this field.

In 2008, I was working with veterans with chronic pain and spinal cord trauma and discovered that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) responded to many of these same techniques. We started using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and then integrated other techniques that were being used by two integrative immersion programs for soldiers with military PTSD at Fort Bliss and Fort Hood. These techniques included energy techniques such as Reiki, qigong, therapeutic massage, chiropractic care, and acupuncture/acupressure as well as calming aromatherapy and relaxing music in conjunction with existing traditional medications and counseling programs.

In 2012, I co-founded a nonprofit called Vet TRIIP, Inc. to provide free integrative services for veterans, service members, their families, and caregivers living with PTS and chronic pain. Since that time, Vet TRIIP has provided over 8,000 individual Integrative Immersion Process (IIP) sessions for over 2,000 veterans. 

—Bob, MS, BA

Jamey’s Story

When I first announced that I would be pursuing studies in integrative medicine, I was met with a mixture of skepticism, questioning, and interest.  After more than thirty years in a traditional medically-based profession, the question I was asked most frequently was, “What are you going to do with that?” 

The truth is, in studying integrative medicine, one has to use the information to find their own way.  I had always been interested in some of the topics that are associated with integrative practices, such as herbalism, energy medicine, and spirituality and I hoped that in learning more, I would be able to apply them to my practice. 

Occupational therapy takes a holistic view of the clients who are served, integrating body, mind, and spiritual concerns into therapeutic methodology and there is a special interest group that addresses integrative practices. So, I wasn’t looking for a new profession but to be a better practitioner in my current profession.

 To some people, this made sense. To others, the whole idea of considering anything other than Western medicine was too far “out there” to have much validity. I also hoped that my studies would offer research data to support the use of integrative practices as effective.

As I began my formal studies, I was able to offer information that did just that. I also was able to achieve my goal of using what I was learning to support my therapy practice.

 An unexpected benefit was that my studies and a required research project led to an entirely new profession, the teaching of yoga. When I retired, this became my new part time work. To anyone who is considering integrative medicine, I would encourage them to enter without preconceived notions of how to apply it. If one is open-minded, the studies eventually will lead to the path one is to follow.

—Jamey, MA

Wendy’s Story

I’ve been a nurse practitioner for over 20 years. I’ve cared for people long enough to realize I can have the best of intentions and a wealth of knowledge, but still be ineffective at improving their health. There’s no 15-minute medical protocol for connecting and taking the time to know each person.

Integrative medicine is provided at a pace and with an intention to access a deep understanding of my patient’s lives. Connection and this deep knowing yield the matrix of support upon which they can begin to improve all aspects of their lives; guided by my recommendations for their health and well-being.

I have witnessed remarkable transformation in my patients and I’m navigating the most fulfilling career I could have ever imagined.

—Wendy, MSN, APRN

Editor’s note: These submissions were edited and condensed. Would you like to share your story? Please e-mail Integrative Practitioner editor Katherine Rushlau at [email protected].