Last Page   *   Next Page

Honoring Women's Wisdom-continued
by Dr. Richard Clofine

     The holistic approach realizes that there are rarely any “magic bullets” that will fix everything. This is how we are oriented by our pharmaceutically and surgically oriented society, to look for the quick fix. Complex issues require approaching things from many different angles. These might include diet, activity, supplements, herbs, alternative treatments, loving emotions and relationships, bodywork and therapy. This would also include the appropriate use of conventional medicine, including pharmaceuticals and surgery, when appropriate and indicated. These are all just tools to be used and when used with wisdom, at the right time, can be extremely helpful in creating health.

     For example, you can take a knife out of your kitchen drawer and prepare food for your kids with it, or carve a beautiful sculpture with it, or kill someone with it. The knife is not inherently good or bad, it is the intent and wisdom of its use that determines the benefit, or detriment, that results. Pharmaceuticals are much more potent than herbs and thus have more powerful effects on the body, including a much increased risk of side effects or harm when used inappropriately. But when used with good intent, and proper perspective, they can be powerful allies in healing.

     Women want to incorporate in their healing what has personal significance to them. This is holding safe space for their power. Being a Holistic Physician means expanding options. The holistic physician sits in the middle of a continuum, the spectrum of healing arts. To our right is all of conventional medicine. The holistic physician embraces conventional modalities, though they are seen and offered in a different way than most of their traditional colleagues. To our left sits all of alternative medicine. The holistic physician should be very knowledgeable about most alternative therapies. By being open to this entire spectrum, we EXPAND options of care, rather than limiting them.

     For example, many conventional gynecologists push Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) on all their perimenopausal patients. And many alternative colleagues would NEVER recommend ERT to these women. Both of these extremes may be limiting options available for creating health. It is not about what 'everyone' should do, or what 'no on' should do. Rather, it should be centered on what the woman sitting in the physician's office should do. Considering her individual issues, needs and desires. Allowing healthcare to flow around a woman's needs, rather than trying to make the individual fit into a preconceived, and limited idea, of what is best for everyone.

     This does not mean ERT has no risks or issues associated with it. When a women climbs into her automobile to come to see her physician, the ability to be mobile, to go wherever she wants whenever she wants, is a huge benefit to her. But that does not mean there are no risks associated with that action. She risks being maimed or killed on Atlanta's roads, and she creates pollution, and it is expensive as well. But in balancing the risks and benefits, her decision is to use her automobile for its intended purpose. In the same way, when a woman decides to utilize ERT, it should be because the benefits outweigh the risks, for her particular set of circumstances, and in accord with her personal belief system.

    Most women want to move out of past patriarchal experiences in their utilization of healthcare. They want to abandon the vertical relationships they have experienced in the past. They are not satisfied with being handed a prescription and being told to just take this because “I say so”. They want to move into HEALING PARTNERSHIPS with caring professionals, that are about horizontal relationships sustained over long periods of time. The true healer always learns as much from their patient as their patient does from the healer. Women want satisfactory explanations of physicians recommendations, so they can follow them with good intent, not feeling like their arms are twisted behind their backs!

     Women desire to receive care rooted in Goddess wisdom as opposed to patriarchy. Care that honors their individual beliefs and wisdom: Body, Mind and Spirit. It is an ideal not easy to accomplish in the circumstances of today's society and healthcare system. It is an ideal worth pursuing, in every way possible.

Dr. Clofine is a board certified gynecologist practicing with a holistic perspective.
Appointments for his Alpharetta and Virginia Highlands offices can be made at 770-521-2140.