Are there any programs like this in Connecticut or New England?

Paul, I dont' know about Conneticut, but it seems like most mainstrean stuff stops in Boston.  We're fond of saying in Maine that we get stuff 6 months after the rest of the country.  Doesn't seem so bad now that the internet is so readily available, but still.... :)

There are links for more than 20 University Programs in Integrative Health on the Consortium of Acedemic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine Website;
http://www.imconsortium.org/cahcim/members/home.html

Links for Cennecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont;

Connecticut
University of Connecticut
School of Medicine
www.uchc.edu

Yale University
Integrative Medicine @ Yale
cam.yale.edu
Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital
www.imc-griffin.org

Massachusetts
Boston University School of Medicine
Program in Integrative Cross Cultural Care
www.bumc.bu.edu

Harvard Medical School
Osher Institute
www.osher.hms.harvard.edu

University of Massachusetts
Center for Mindfulness
www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx

Vermont
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Program in Integrative Medicine
www.med.uvm.edu/integrativemedicine

I find itintriguing that there is no mention of Yoga,
Hatha Yoga or Meditative Yoga.

I have started my own health and wellness center. I offer chiropractic,massage,yoga,and a meditation class. I have no big money by any means, but i find the reward in someone understanding and taking charge of their own health. When they understand what health is, a light clicks on for them. They understand life is not a destination but a journey. The vehicle traveled in is our body. To journey further, you need to have a body that has longevity. After all it is easier to stay healthy, then to come back from illness.

I have used energy work for 10 years as a nurse in ICU, and I can definately help someones pain, agitation, and can even slow bood loss.

More and more people are waking up and taking informed responsibility for their own health and wellness.  They understand that drugs are life-savers in crisis care situations, but usually not the best approach to regaining and maintaining their overall health.  I own a small Holistic Center where we integrate mind/body fitness like Yoga, T'ai Chi, and Qigong with bodywork like massage, Ortho-Bionomy (pain management), and acupuncture.  We also offer nutritional counseling.  Our clients report better overall physical health and more peace of mind.

Your tone sounds a bit dismissive on a couple of points.  You mentioned that "a handful of billionaires have brought alternative medicine into many the nation’s major medical centers", and I'd like to point out that many others of us would have done it if we could afford it. We should also recognize that our nation's media is controlled by a handful, just 6, conglomerates - a powerful force that is vested in keeping our opinions and wellness under their influence. Only the messages that serve their bottom line will be released in this country. These 6 entities are tied in with the top advertisers, typically purveyors of beer, junk food and drugs, and they all care more about their own profits than our population's overall health. I'm thrilled that a few health-minded billionaires stood up for what is right.

Secondly, you stated, "many practitioners of alternative medicine either see no need for their claims to be tested with scientific studies or simply ignore results". We should consider that  unless a medical product can be patented and sold for an outrageously high price it will not see the inside of a serious lab in this country. Who would finance a quality study on these alternative approaches so that we can list them as "proven"?

As a consumer, I will support any TV network, HMO, and product line that TRULY supports  health for families. Capitalism can work just as well if we just shift our values and  make "health" profitable priority. We can be healthy and still feed the economy if we spend money on preventative medicine, education, nutrition and joy.  

I enjoyed Robert Bazell's article "Ignoring the failures of alternative medicine" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15387493) more than this week's "the Mind Body Connection" series.  For a refreshingly skeptical look at alternative medicine, see   the book "Voodoo Science" by Bob Park (http://www.bobpark.org/).

Are there any programs like this in the Cleveland, Ohio area?

It is typical of quacks to avoid validating their pet practices through science.  When promoting such nonsense, quacks have to resort to paying for acceptance and/or gaining acceptance through political means.  Teaching quackery in medical schools is shockingly unethical.    

"Alternative medicine" isn't alternative at all.  And it's been around a very long time.  It's seems to "catch on," when there's a tipping point, and because of the way the drug companies have hi-jacked the health-care industry, it's a good thing!  From my own experience, when I was dying of pericarditis and bi-lateral lung effusions, and 60 mg. of prednisone wasn't working, I went to an MD, by the name of Henry Bieler in Capistrano, California, who practiced alternative medicine. He wrote, Food Is Your Best Medicine.  That was in 1970.  Doctors had given me about 4 years to live, and here I am, shocked to be 61!  But I think that what worked for me, will be different for what works someone else. I never believed that I would die, and I followed Dr. Bieler's advice and suggestions to a tee. I committed to healing my body. I love Bruce Lipton's work on the power of the mind, and the placebo effect. His website is very good. I'm a writer and work as a hypnotherapist, so I see the results of "faulty brain wiring" all the time. I help people re-wire brains... I see dramatic results when people just change the their basic perceptions... and re-program self defeating beliefs. If I can do it, so can you!

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