This is one of my favorite things to talk about. Alternative, complementary, integrated, “new age” are all terms for the same collection of practices. Examples of these practices would include acupuncture, massage, herbalism, energy healing, meditation, chiropractic care… yoga and even prayer could be on this list. These are techniques of healing that most students in medical school are not trained in and in most parts of America not accepted as mainstream medicine. That’s where the term “alternative” comes from. Alternative practices are the opposite of allopathic or Western medicine. Western Medicine is not all bad. It has provided many wonderful things to our society and amazing discoveries about the body and how it works.  Also of note, as western medicine evolves practices such as dry needling are being developed. The theory of the practice is not...

My story starts when I was a young child. For as long as I can remember I could tell what other people were feeling. I knew where their hurts were and I was aware of when they weren’t being truthful or honest whether to me or to themselves. I remember hugging someone who was upset about something and feeling their pain. I remember praying for people when I was young and my hands getting hot in my palms as I did so. I thought all of these things were normal. I thought that is just what happened to everyone. It wasn’t until my teen years when I confided in my friends about these experiences that I realized this wasn’t normal for everyone. I quickly became insecure about it all and did everything I could to pretend like I was “normal.” I totally shut down the gifts I was given and lived in my logical brain as much as possible. In nursing school, we were exposed to alternative therapies in a few of my classes. We learned about Reiki, chiropractic...