A Dialogue on Integral Medicine

Marilyn Schlitz

Marilyn Schlitz, Ph.D., is Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and senior scientist at the Geraldine Brush Cancer Research Institute at the California Pacific Medical Center.

Marilyn Schlitz, Ph. D., internationally known author and scientific researcher on human potentials, discusses her personal journey toward a more integral medicine. In compelling and often moving moments, Marilyn traces her trajectory from exterior science to interior soul, and an integral medicine that can embrace them both.

"Medical school is a great trauma for people. We run a detox program for them to renew and recover their soul."

Marilyn and Ken start by outlining three types of medical practice:

1. conventional, which treats the illness;
2. alternative, complementary, holistic, or integrative, which treats the whole patient; and
3. integral, which includes the first two types and treats the physician as well.

The integral approach to medicine, although in its infancy, has the potential to revolutionize health care, and for a simple reason: most doctors today despise what has happened to conventional medicine yet they often do not trust alternative and holistic medicine (too "woo woo"). Integral medicine, in taking a rigorous yet more comprehensive approach, promises to speak directly to those concerns. When--or whether--it will be accepted on a significant scale is the topic of this compelling dialogue.