Integrating qigong with psychotherapy adds another dimension to bodymind healing. The combination of the relaxation techniques and breathwork of qigong integrate well into psychotherapy and in particular pain management. Qigong also brings energy therapy into the body as well. The value of qigong in hypertension is documented with good research.
Bio: Michael Mayer, Ph.D. is
a licensed psychologist, hypnotherapist, and Qigong/Tai Chi teacher who
specializes in giving his patients self-healing methods for health
problems. Dr. Mayer presents his approach to bodymind healing at
professional conferences, national/international workshops,
universities, and hospitals; and he is a keynote speaker. He co-founded
the Transpersonal Psychology Program at John F. Kennedy University where
he trained therapists for 12 years; and he is a co-founder of, and a
practitioner at, The Health Medicine Center, a multi-disciplinary
medical clinic practicing integrative health-care. Dr. Mayer pioneered
the integration of Qigong and psychotherapy, and was the first person in
the United States to train doctoral psychology students in these
methods. The World Institute for Self-Healing gave him an award for
outstanding research and contribution to the advancement of mind-body
medicine. He is board certified and a fellow of the American Association
for Integrative Medicine. Dr Mayer is the author of twenty publications
on bodymind healing including five books, audiotapes on cancer and
chronic disease, and articles on chronic pain and anxiety. His peer reviewed article on Qigong and hypertension appeared in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; it was updated in the book Healing, Intention and Energy Medicine, by
Dr Wayne Jonas, past director of the National Institute of Health,
Office of Alternative Medicine; and it was recently featured on the
website Natural Standard: The Authority on Integrative Medicine. Dr. Mayer has served as a peer reviewer for The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,Complementary Therapies in Medicine, and Annals of Internal Medicine.His
Bodymind Healing Qigong DVD is currently being used in training of
trauma therapists by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Medical Director, The
Trauma Center, Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Mayer has
certification programs which includeBodymind
Healing Qigong for Qigong practitioners/teachers, and a Bodymind Health
Practitioner’s Certification Program for health professionals. His book,Bodymind Healing Psychotherapy (2007), has been released as a trade paperback calledEnergy Psychology by North Atlantic/Random House, 2009. They have both received endorsements from leaders in mind-body medicine, and from the journal PsycCritiques.Michael's guiding image of "two streams becoming one" guides him as he joins East/West, mind/body and ancient/modern in his work.