ABSTRACT
In the new world of interdisciplinary pain management, many advances have been made to assure the correct holistic approach to evaluation and treatment. Medical holism requires attention to the four main pillars of wellness: physical, social, psychological, and spiritual. Other chapters in this book direct the reader to innovations in physical, social, and psychological domains. More controversial and unfortunately quite rare is adequate attention devoted to spiritual domains. Even with the pioneering work of Dossey (1991, 1993) and others who have explored the crossroads of medicine and spirituality, attention to this element of care evokes spirited discussion among care givers. Patients and their families, and an increasing number of healthcare workers, however, have evidenced their interest by attending mind-body medicine courses and spirituality and healing presentations such as those offered under the direction of Harvard’s Herbert Benson, M.D. (1975, 1984; Benson & Stark, 1996), and his colleagues. The Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health is now supporting investigations into the biologic substrate of the effects of a number of complementary and alternative modalities (CAM). In fact, evidence suggests a strong role for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in this effect likening the process to the relaxation response. The relaxation response is the opposite of the fight-flight response
coined earlier at Harvard. The field of psychoneuro-immunology was born of these findings.
