See my latest contribution from Natural Awakenings Magazine March 2018 Page 30!

How did you move from traditional to holistic medicine?

I’m a western-trained physician and board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. After multiple attempts to incorporate holistic treatments into traditional western medicine settings, I decided to open my own practice where I only do energy treatments—acupuncture, Ondamed Biofeedback Therapy, Reiki and Mei Zen acupuncture for the face and neck and weight loss. Later this year I’ll be adding herbal therapy, which has the healing energy effect of acupuncture, but without the needles.

What’s your evaluative and diagnostic process as a holistic physician?

I use multiple methods of evaluation, starting the moment a patient walks into my office. Just observing their overall appearance—watching their face and looking into their eyes—gives me a quick idea about the level of their qi energy. Other supportive exams give further information. For example, I check the pulse—not for rhythm and rate, but to know how the qi energy is flowing through all 12 meridians.

You look at the deeper roots of illness, including emotional issues. How do our emotions affect our health?

I cannot emphasize enough how much the emotions play into physical illness. Most people just deal with the physical symptoms of an injury or illness, so their healing remains superficial. There’s a high probability that their original health problem may reoccur over time, because suppressed emotions subtly translate into physical ailments. The only way to truly heal is to deal with the deep emotional root cause. Recognizing this is important to achieving healing on all levels—emotional, physical, mental and spiritual.

Is this what you mean when you say you take a “whole-body” approach to treatment?

Yes. You can’t just focus on a physical ailment and expect lasting healing. Holistic practitioners will tell you that disease is really “dis-ease”—not just physical discomfort, but discomfort on all levels, and you must address each level together rather than separately. When a patient presents to me with a physical complaint, I look at the entire patient and how every part of that patient’s life contributed to the development of this particular illness. Then I create a treatment plan specific to that patient. While I treat to relieve my patients of any physical discomfort, at the same time I am always looking for that deep emotional root cause. Once that is found and treated, the patient always attains a level of healing that is phenomenal to experience.

How do you prioritize your treatment?

My first goal is always to relieve any acute discomfort a patient may have when they come to see me. However, while I’m treating that physical complaint, I’ll also start working on any emotional issues underlying the presenting condition. In addition, I work to strengthen the body’s ability to make and distribute its own qi. If this were not done, a treatment would be like jump-starting a car with a bad battery. The person would feel better for a short period of time, but then the original complaints would resurface. That’s probably why most people who have had acupuncture state that it never worked for them.

How do you advise people to stay healthy during cold and flu season?

This winter has been a particularly bad season for the flu. Some of the most important things that everyone can do are wash their hands, cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze and avoid close contact with anyone. Don’t worry about seeming rude—avoid shaking hands and hugging people, at least through April, when flu season ends. Also, it’s not too late to get vaccinated. The vaccine does provide some level of protection, and if you do get the flu, it won’t be as severe.

Any other advice for our readers?

A body in balance has an incredible ability to heal itself. Energy healing balances the body by opening up blockages that prevent self-healing. It is a wonderful stand-alone treatment or addition to western medicine therapies. However, it’s important to note that energy healing is not a quick fix. People need to realize that many health issues have taken years to develop, so they should not expect to see major improvements in one or two treatments. Most people feel some differences even after a treatment or two, but the experience is different for everybody. However, if you decide to give energy treatments a try, the healing can be quite powerful.

Laurie R. Mallis, M.D., LAc, is the owner of SearchLight Medical, located at 2424 Rte. 52, Suite 1A, Hopewell Junction, NY. For more info, contact her at 845.592.4310 or SearchLightMed@Optimum.net, or visit SearchLightMedical.com.