Remember Biafra? When I was in college, people were starving in Biafra. Ok, so I’m dating myself here. Starving child during the Nigerian-Biafran war (c. 1968) The country of Biafra only existed from 1967 to 1970, having divided off from Nigeria before being forcibly reintegrated. Because of civil war, over 1 million people died, mostly from hunger. My heart went out to them, and I wanted to do something about it. So I got our college administration to agree to make a donation for every student who skipped dinner on a designated night. OK, so far, so good, but now…

Perhaps I’m dating myself here, but I remember what I like to refer to as “the dark days of drug, drug, DRUG medicine.” Those were the days before mind-body medicine was considered a viable treatment partner to be utilized along with the over-emphasized (if you asked me) pharmaceutical approach then practiced in most hospitals and doctors’ offices. Who had the greatest influence on the mainstream acceptance of mind-body medicine as a treatment alternative? It wasn’t a doctor, nurse or psychologist…it wasn’t a practitioner at all. In my mind, it was Bill Moyers, the reporter who released the “Healing and the…

Lady Bird Johnson Former First Lady The last time I was running, I was surprised and appalled to see someone drive by, roll down their window and throw some crumpled up wrappers out of their car. You just don’t see that anymore. We’ve got Lady Bird Johnson to thank for that. When she was first lady, she started a campaign against “litter bugging”. Up until then, it was pretty much commonplace to throw out, almost anywhere, anything that was disposable. Mrs. Johnson was able to have an impact upon our nation – changing the habits of millions of people, because,…

Our New Treatments for Trauma series ended with a bang last night, keeping the founder of Somatic Experiencing, Dr. Peter Levine, for the end. And yet, he isn’t necessarily our final act. Have you glanced at our Comment Boards recently? They are full of comments about how the speakers have triggered those “ah ha” moments where the ideas have fallen into place. I can tell you of a number of such “ah ha” moments that I felt during the series, but you’ve been listening to me quite a bit lately and it’s now time for me to hear from you….