Braving the Void: Journeys Into Healing

by Michael T. Greenwood

Book Overview

In this fascinating book, Dr Greenwood provides the reader with many insights which point toward the true heart of healing. He compassionately and powerfully recounts the unique journeys taken with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0969582218
• ISBN13: 9780969582212
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Paradox Publishers
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Braving The Void - review by Dr Stephen Faulkner

BRAVING THE VOID Journeys into Healing Book review By Dr. Stephen J. FaulknerDuncan, B.C. For physicians and health care workers who are interested in Energy Healing and holistic approaches to health care, this book is a landmark work. Dr. Michael Greenwood's second book "Braving the Void - Journeys into Healing" is a well written, easy to read account of his experiences and insights as a physician and acupuncturist at the Victoria Pain Clinic. Physicians in primary care reading this book will immediately resonate with some of his ideas on chronic pain and chronic illness. For example, the discussion of the doctor-patient relationship and the increasing trend of modern medicine to practice by protocols and algorithms using "evidence based" treatments is very relevant. "To suggest one form of treatment is good for all people in all situations seems patently absurd, yet physicians have allowed fear to provoke them to abandon their inner strength and relinquish their authority when dealing with patients" The concept of the void, which was initially developed in his first book, "Paradox and Healing", co-authored with Dr. Peter Nunn, is one that is best experienced to be appreciated and understood. Having experienced the void myself in therapeutic situations it is something I believe all holistic physicians and healers must experience and enter into periodically to be fully aware of what is happening both for themselves and their patients. Michael Greenwood has embraced this belief and, together with his other staff members, has developed a model for energy healing for conditions as diverse as chronic back pain and chronic fatigue, to breast cancer and multiple personality disorder. Other areas I found extremely interesting were the case histories on phantom limb pain, electrical burns and shamanic possessions. Dealing with these "energies" can be extremely fatiguing and at times frightening, and Dr. Greenwood has been very modest about his experiences. He should be considered the James Cook of the human psyche, beginning to chart new continents and oceans of human energy, which have been previously "Terra Incognito" to western minds. His medical training is the navigational equipment required to prevent him landing on the rocks and his skills as a humane physician and acupuncturist the gift that provides safety through the gale-force winds and ocean storms. This kind of work, dealing with chronic pain and the failures of so many other "so called" orthodox treatments also brings up the shadow work that a healthy society must engage in for its survival. As Michael suggests, our health care system is all too ready to focus on the "light" and "positive" aspects of our culture but reluctant to approach the "dark" or "negative" aspects. This is not the kind of work for the faint-hearted. A willingness to explore one's own shadow side and belief system is essential if one is going to navigate the unpalatable places of the client's psyche. Fortunately for u

Dr Greenwood Explores Existential Trauma

The book, "Braving the Void" clearly and vividly describes how our memories are not only stored in the brain, but appear to be widely distributed throughout the body (a postulate that is being confirmed by esteemed neuroscientists, such as Antonio Damasio, author of Descarte's Error). This clearly brings up the proverbial question of how memory is stored. We do not have a clear answer to that question, except that it is complex. This has important implications for chronic illness in some people who have experienced both physical and mental trauma. Post-traumatic stress disorders seem to be deeply stored within this body-mind memory system, and may be expressed as intractable symptoms such as chronic pain. According to Green, this memory storage system may be viewed metaphorically as an holographic field or neurophysiological pattern which he terms "energy". "Unblocking" the abnormal "energy" pattern, he claims, can restore health by releasing these memories. During this process, the patient can enter a space termed the "void", a place where change can occur and the abnormal patterns of belief from trauma are exposed and released. Dr Greenwood uses various techniques such as acupuncture, forced breathing, kinesiology, and massage to release the memory patterns. He provides fascinating case histories of patients who were suffering from chronic pain, and other manifestations of ill health, being transformed back to wellness through manipulation of the body-mind "systemic memory" system. This is an intriguing book for healthcare professionals who wish to learn more than they were conventionally taught, and for patients with chronic illness and pain secondary to past physical and psychological trauma, especially in view of the scientific evidence published by Antonio Damasio.