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MAPS Conferences
Workshop III
Healthy Mind, Healthy
Body
Traditional and Alternative
Healing Practices in Contemporary Portuguese-speaking Communities
Alternative Medicine: Understanding the Utilization
and Benefits of Combined Treatments
Chair & Moderator
Maria J. Gonçalves
Child Social Worker, Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
(MAPS)
Stephen L. Cabral, PhD
Adjunct & Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Sociology, University
of Massachusetts-Dartmouth & Bristol Community College Manager,
Substance Abuse Care & Treatment Services, Massachusetts Alliance
of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS)
Editor/Writer, The Business Publishing Group- Portsmouth, Rhode
Island Desk
Top Publishing Correspondent, The Standard Times, New Bedford
Panelists
Danuza Martins Aquino
Private Practice, Holistic Medicine & Massage Therapy
Holistic Therapies
What is Holistic Therapy?
Holistic Therapies are therapeutic treatments that are concerned
with treating the person’s health and well-being considering their
emotional, mental, physical, cultural, socio-economic and spiritual
states. Holistic also comes from “Holy” which means Divine! The
reality accepted in these therapies is that every individual is
an expression of the divine energy and that they have the resources
within themselves to create balance and “happiness” in their lives.
Are they the same as Alternative therapies?
They are alternative” and certainly all alternative and conventional
therapies are “divine”, but the emphasis on the concept of an individual
as a “divine being” is the main difference between alternative and
Holistic treatments. They are sometimes called Wholistic treatments
because they pay attention to an individual as a “whole”(complete),
considering all their parts.
What are these Therapies?
Massage Therapies; Cranium-sacrum; Bioenergetics; Core-energetic;
Patchwork Therapy; Energy Healing; Reiki; Yoga; Meditation; Spiritual
Therapy; Music Therapy; Drama Therapy; Herbal Therapy, etc.
What can they do or not do?
Holistic Therapies just as any other alternative treatment do not
promises to “cure’ anyone of their physical illness or disease,
nor to diagnose any mental or emotional health, but it serves as
a “help provider” for self-awareness, improvement of life’s quality,
release of symptoms, relaxation, tools for coping and understanding
of the “disharmonious” places in life. It also helps to create and
improve hope, faith and a sense of well being that many times leads
to the “cure” of their distress.
Case Example: Women with ulcer and other stomach
problems find “equilibrium” and health in Holistic Therapy.
Tais Costa Howard
Licensed Acupuncturist Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
(MAPS)
Private practice
Natural healing, also referred to as "alternative",
"complementary" or "integrative" medicine includes a variety of
philosophies, approaches and therapies. Some of these natural healing
approaches are new (like cranial-sacral therapy) and some are very
old (like Chinese, Ayurvedic and Native American Medicines). The
majority of them approach the body as a 'form' with its own laws
having the capacity to heal itself and move towards balance and
harmony. The older medicines form a complete healing system and
approach the human being as a totality where body, mind and spirit
are intimately connected.
Laura Baltzell, LICSW
Clinical Social Worker, East Cambridge Health Center, Cambridge
Health Alliance
Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, BKS Iyengar Yoga Center of Greater
Boston
Much ground-breaking work in mind/body therapy has already been
done by such well-known people as Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind/Body
Medical Institute of Boston and Jon Kabat-Zinn of the Stress Reduction
Program at University of Massachusetts/Worcester. This presentation
will describe a group therapy which uses yoga for stress reduction
for Portuguese-speaking mental health patients at the East Cambridge
Health Center. This program is adjunctive to the standard course
of psychotherapy and/or psychopharmacology to address anxiety and/or
depression in our, using a mind/body approach.
This is a new program, offered for the first
time to the Portuguese-speaking community, is a work in progress
and continually being refined. Participation is limited to mental
health patients who are seen by members of the Portuguese Mental
Health Team. Although very limited in scope, the response of both
colleagues on the team and the participants themselves has been
very encouraging.
Topics addressed will be why and how this program
was initiated; how it is different from yoga classes taught in a
more traditional setting; how referrals are managed; the response
of colleagues and the participants themselves; issues of boundaries
and confidentiality in a non-traditional therapy.
BJ. Wang
Owner, E. Shan Tang Herbal Pharmacy, Allston
Mr. Wang is greatly respected throughout the entire Northeast for
his skillful practice of Chinese herbal medicine. He works with
a diverse patient community, and has been working with Brazilian
patients, who make up an estimated 15% of E. Shan Tang patrons,
for over 11 years. He will be presenting information on health issues
with natural herbs.
Mr. Wang has been customizing herbal formulas
for many different applications to maintain good health.
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