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The Healing Circle: an Ethnographic Research Study of Human Interaction Within a New Model of Integrative Medicine

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The Healing Circle: an Ethnographic Research Study of Human Interaction Within a New Model of Integrative Medicine Crimson Publishers Research Article Wings to the Research The Healing Circle: An Ethnographic Research Study of Human Interaction Within a New Model of Integrative Medicine Meg Jordan* Department Chair, Professor of Integrative Health, California Institute of Integral Studies, University in San Francisco, USA ISSN: 2637-7802 Abstract This ethnographic study explores an innovative experiment in integrative medicine known as the healing circle, as developed by a collaborative group of biomedical and alternative health practitioners in northern California. The original intent of the circle was to surmount the perceived shortcoming in many integrative clinics of subordinating and trivializing alternative healing practices as mere treatment in which an actual blending or harmonizing of disparate medical world views could be accomplished. The goaloptions, was under to better the auspicesserve patients of biomedicine. with complex The practitionerschronic disease sought by offering to create them a more an expandedlevel playing array field, of healing options, a generous time for hearing their narratives, and the convenience of receiving viewpoints from practitioners of multiple modalities (e.g., ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine, herbalism, homeopathy) in one place, at one time. What emerged in this well-intentioned effort were escalating of widely opposing philosophies and epistemologies. Lack of skills and awareness in communicating, negotiating,tensions and and numerous mediating interpersonal among different difficulties disciplines inherent derailed in the their attempt best efforts. to negotiate Half-way understandings through this *Corresponding author: Meg Jordan, Department Chair, Professor of Integrative The revised circle achieved a new solidarity among practitioners but met with an uneven response from Health, California Institute of Integral fieldwork, the circle’s mission switched to a more cohesive facilitation of the meaning of someone’s illness. Studies, University in San Francisco, USA clients. Submission: January 24, 2020 Introduction Published: February 05, 2020 New forms and old styles of integrative medicine This ethnographic study explores the interactions of a group of complementary, alternative Volume 5 - Issue 5 and allopathic health practitioners and their patients in their attempts to assemble a new How to cite this article: Meg Jordan. model for healing. Their goal was to partake in a structure that would be entirely different The Healing Circle: An Ethnographic from the current reality of “integrative medicine,” since they perceived the crux of the problem Research Study of Human Interaction to be that true integration among disciplines does not occur; instead, subordination reigns, Within a New Model of Integrative creating power struggles and discontent. With a new model to the rescue- one that placed Medicine. Adv Complement Alt Med. 5(5). ACAM.000622.2020. DOI: 10.31031/ACAM.2020.05.000622 multidisciplinary healing circle- the expectation was that practitioners would work together the different disciplines in an egalitarian structure, a level playing field they called the in harmonious ways. However, merely changing the structure proved to be just the initial Meg Jordan. This article is Copyright@ hurdle to accomplish their intent. The truly formidable task rested in learning new ways of distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International getting along for the good of all. License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the The practitioners’ motivation to create a multidisciplinary healing circle was driven in original author and source are credited. part by frustration with trying to gain acceptance of alternative medicine healing approaches within conventional healthcare settings [1]. The practitioners also cited numerous chronically of alternative options. What better way to solve this, they thought, than to have practitioners ill clients who were baffled by a rapidly changing health care system and a confounding array of many complementary, alternative and allopathic medicine disciplines assembled together at one time for the patient in an educational format? The convenience of patients telling their stories at one time in one location, the time-efficiency of many disciplines represented at once, were rationales for the circle’s development. and the comfort of having several caring practitioners acknowledge the clients’ difficulties Despite the fact that a broad range of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices is available today, choosing among them can be confusing for people who have spent Advances in Complementary & Alternative Medicine 486 ACAM.000622. 5(5).2020 487 considerable time and resources in seeking relief from chronic I. Homeopathy illness. In response to this predicament, conventional medicine J. Clinical nutrition practitioners have attempted to incorporate various forms of CAM techniques into their practices [2,3]. For example, primary care K. Guided imagery L. Meditation patient, or a family practice physician learns a point-counterpoint physicians get certified in acupuncture to assist in in pain relief for form of physical therapy to restore a traditional hands-on form of M. Movement therapy doctoring that allows great connection with her patients. N. Naturopathic medicine Another approach to integrative medicine is for a clinic to hire a O. Chaplaincy/ prayer/faith variety of practitioners from various disciplines. For example, a full team would consist of an allopathic MD, a chiropractor, Traditional P. Psychotherapy Chinese medicine practitioner (acupuncturist), and perhaps a Q. Shamanism massage therapist or clinical nutritionist. R. Subtle energy (such as Reiki) “Integrative medicine” is the name given to this activity, which in the current turbulent climate of U.S. health care, is at once Traditional Chinese medicine hailed as a way to develop potential areas of complementarity However, the circle proved to be a fertile breeding ground and interface with conventional medicine, and also criticized as for the contested forms and interactions they had hoped to leave an illegitimate co-opting of alternative methods by conventional behind; unfortunately, they had towed along problems with medicine practitioners [4,5]. communication, negotiation, and interpretation patterns that Whether various centers of integrative medicine represent true socialization and educational processes of the various disciplines integration as an egalitarian enterprise or represent a subordinating reflected difficult and unequal social relations. In many ways, the had not prepared them for operating within this experimental process which places other healing disciplines under the aegis of conventional medicine (or at least the medical doctor in charge), is ripe for investigation. However, it is not the central issue of this model based upon more utopian ideals. At first glance, the hierarchy that the behavior (process) was unaltered. The healing circle, for all ethnography, although it is a very thorny side issue providing the (structure) was flattened, but this ethnographic inquiry revealed its good intentions, had come full circle to witness the entrenched impetus for my study. discord that lurked beneath the surface. The practitioners in the healing circle believed they were in retreat from systems of subordination. With an expressed desire Experimental Model to innovate an improved framework, the founding practitioners in The following problems emerged during the two-year this Northing California (USA) healing circle hastened to create a experimental model: structure that would bypass the entrenched biomedical “red tape.” Original intent derailed They sought freedom from what they perceived as the dominant medical hierarchy, overblown bureaucracies, a lack of medical At the onset of the circle’s launch, the multidisciplinary healing innovation, and a dispiriting and disempowering environment circle was designed to be a convenient vehicle for a patient to for non-allopathic practitioners. The vision was for the dominant learn about numerous healing modalities in a rich cross-dialogue medical groups in society would now be integrated with the among practitioners. This mission was to be accomplished by subordinated healer groups in a healing circle that would somehow different types of practitioners sitting for two hours in circle with achieve neutral ground and blend the following disciplines, a patient (someone coping with a chronic disease), to provide a approaches or techniques: healing atmosphere for improving quality of life. Although some clients acknowledged the limitation of the healing circle as a single A. Allopathic medicine intervention, or “one-shot deal” as it was called, they insisted that B. Ayurvedic medicine the opportunity to receive the perspective of several practitioners C. Acupuncture clients. in one place, at one time, held a potential benefit for chronically ill D. Biofeedback Poor inter-disciplinary communication skills emerged E. Bodywork At a half-way point in the two-year study, tensions and frustrations escalated dramatically among the various practitioners, F. Chiropractic G. Qigong from the failure to negotiate a discourse of integration among and the circles were suspended for five months. This tension arose opposing views of authoritative knowledge, medicine, treatment, H. Herbalism the nature and meaning of illness, and even the social identity Adv Complement Alt Med Copyright
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