Many physicians saw a need to distance themselves more from the personal lives of patients. Only in the remotest areas did doctors still do house calls. Fewer general practitioners knew their patients personally.  

The upside of this is better and more innovative medicine. The backlash, however is that people have became increasingly uncomfortable with being treated as a “bio-mechanism” and having pills pushed at us by the handful without feeling that the doctor cares about us or knows who we are. 

I'm sure many of you have had experiences similar to mine, where the doctor makes you wait an hour, only to come in and barely acknowledge your presence. S/he might ask a few quick questions, then quickly scribble a prescription and leave. 

Now, I don't mean to bash doctors. I have had some really wonderful, dedicated doctors in my life, but they are overworked and, no not underpaid, but frantically trying to keep up with the patient load they must maintain in order to make a living. Insurance runs their practices and they don't always get much per visit for each patient. Most of them, I believe do the best they can. Some even excel in being able to work the system so that they can give better patient care.

But where does that leave us? We get, if we are lucky enough to have medical insurance through our jobs or have government sponsored plans like Medicare in the U.S., relatively cheap care. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be enough. We want to feel like our doctor knows us and cares about us too. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so. Sometimes, our lifestyle is very telling and a doctor who doesn't take or have the time to get to know us might miss important information that could help us. 

Because so many of us don't feel understood by our doctors and because we feel rushed, use of alternate medicine is growing. According to the British Medical Journal, January 1985, the majority of people seek alternative medicine for those very reasons, and because traditional medicine failed them.

MSNBC News/Alternative Medicine recently reported that between 2002 and 2007, the use of complimentary, alternative medicine (CAM), which includes massage, acupuncture and chiropractic,in the U.S. increased by 18.1 percent among whites, 17.2 percent among Asians, 6.6 percent among black, and 1 percent among Hispanics.  

Alternative medicine and energy healing, although not practical and effective for all of our ills—I wouldn’t go to an acupuncturist for a broken arm—give us the psycho-spiritual element so often missing in our relationship with our doctor. It also offers us options not available with traditional medicine, and if any of the the vast load of anecdotal evidence is true, it is often effective where “medicine” fails. Our migration to embrace alternative medicine, in all its myriad forms, is so great it amounts to a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. as we continue to seek better health.

But what is health and how do we attain it? Health, according to alternative medical professionals and energy healers, is more than the absence of disease. It is an ongoing experience of radiant vitality, inner joy, and mental/emotional clarity. This involves the whole body and mind as a symbiotic unit. 

Alternative medicine, including herbs, supplements, acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy; disciplines such as yoga, tai chi, chi gong, massage; and straight energy work, including Reiki, Re Hu Tek, qigong, and pranic healing, all claim that radiant health is possible. Healers, healees, and researchers are well-armed with stories and testimonials of how “healing” works in conjunction with, or in spite of traditional  treatments.

Yet, we also know times when the alternative treatment did NOT work, where nothing we try seems to bring relief. Why? The answer is complex and varied. Many of the factors involved include: 

• Lifestyle
• Diet
• Belief system and subconscious sabotage
• Skill level of the practitioner –our expectations
• If you are metaphysically minded, you might also include Karma 
• Our participation in the healing process

Lifestyle: Often, it is our lifestyle that prevents vibrant health. Stress, the great killer, inflames our internal organs and saps our vitality until we weaken so much, eight hours of sleep are not enough to replenish. We then find ourselves running on a negative energy balance. In modern western society, the demands of job and family are often more than humans were meant to endure.

Diet: Our diet plays an important role in the health picture. The modern Western diet is mostly sugar, fat, salt, and chemicals—as in cheeseburger, fries, and a soft drink. Most of the food we eat is processed and devoid of nutrients. As a society, we talk about eating right, but the lines are still long at the “junk food palaces.”

Many people believe that food must contain “life energy” to properly nourish the body. Frozen and processed food, they say, is “dead” and incapable of sustaining health. If we go to a healer, yet continue to eat nutritionally empty and potentially harmful foods, we will most likely either not be healed, or return to illness shortly after the healing.

Belief: It widely thought that belief plays a part in whether or not we are healed. If we have serious doubts or fears about the treatment, our own subconscious minds may sabotage the effectiveness of a healing—sort of a reverse placebo effect. 

With that in mind, why is it that we seem not be totally effective in using our minds to heal? That gets into another lengthy subject. However, put simply, the theory is that it is harder to muster the focus and pure belief necessary for this to occur. We are mentally complex beings and often haven’t a clue about what lurks in the deep recesses of our psyche. 

Skill Level: The skill level of the practitioner must also be considered when consulting a medical professional—traditional or alternative.  A novice may not know her/his craft well enough yet to be as effective as a veteran, skilled practitioner. This isn’t always the case, but it is something to keep in mind. 

Karma: This is a metaphysical concept and deeply rooted in India and other Eastern cultures. It is believed by many to be the universal law of cause and effect. It is usually associated, with reincarnation. Although the belief in karma can also include cause and effect within the present lifetime. It would take much more space than this article allows to discuss all the ins and outs of karma theory. But, in relationship to health, the theory is that we often choose to experience health difficulties because of a past life deed, or emotional pattern. If this is the case, we must either learn the lesson involved or continue to suffer through it until the karma is balanced.

Our Role: We have a responsibility in our healing process. So often, we equate spiritual/energetic healing with traditional medicine—give me a magic “pill” and make it all go away. We want to renounce any role we play in our own healing process. Although the thought of this is appealing to many, it is not the most effective road to health. 

To achieve the health as defined by alternative practitioners as  an ongoing vitality that includes a clear mind, sound body, and youthful energy, we must address our willingness to make changes in our lifestyles, our mental and emotional selves, and we must strive to be as open as we can to receiving the healing in its highest possible expression. 

When we are with a healer, focusing on being open to receive the healing in its greatest capacity will help you receive the best and most from the session. This is true whether you are receiving acupuncture, taking herbs, or receiving Re Hu Tek.

The bottom line is that healing is a complex thing and we can't expect to continue in a lifestyle filled with negative thinking, or toxic emotions, bad diet, and a lifestyle that doesn't support health, then expect a pill to make us all better. Healing, just like many (but probably not all) illnesses and disfunctions, are whole being processes. 

I want to go on record and say that It is my personal belief that not every illness or disfunction is a result of what we think, or our lifestyle. There are huge leaps in genetic studies that show evidence that sometimes, $%^& just happens. And, sometimes we are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and get a virus, food poisoning, or such. As Sigmund Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." However, I also believe that if we have a clear, healthy, body, mind, and emotions, that cold, or food poisoning, etc. will have less dramatic effect and we will be able to heal much faster than otherwise.

For more information on the energy healing that Anita and her husband, Allen practice, visit www.rehutek.com,