Meet
the Flipsters
Conversations
on the Bridge |
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A Conversation with Dr. O.
Carl Simonton
(The complete Flip interview, with only minor edits,
not found in the book)
Dr. O. Carl Simonton (www.simontoncenter.com)
is an internationally acclaimed oncologist, author,
and speaker best known for his pioneering insights
and research in the field of psychological oncology.
After having earned his medical degree from the University
of Oregon Medical School, he completed a three-year
residency in radiation oncology. It was during this
time that Dr. Simonton developed a model of emotional
support for the treatment of cancer patients. This
approach introduced the concept that one’s state
of mind could influence one’s ability to survive
cancer.
As chief of radiation therapy at Travis Air Force
Base, Dr. Simonton implemented this model. This was
the first systematic emotional intervention used in
the treatment of cancer – a program that was
approved by the Surgeon General’s Office in
1973. While in private practice, Dr. Simonton utilized
his unique approach for the treatment of cancer patients.
A pilot study he conducted from 1974 to 1981 demonstrated
an increase in survival time and improvement in the
quality of life for the participants. His early research
established the foundation for two widely acclaimed
books, which he coauthored, Getting Well Again and
The Healing Journey.
We asked Carl how he got his start on a mind-body
approach to cancer therapy. “I was in my training
as a radiation oncologist, dealing with people with
advanced cancer and noticing how hopelessness was
interfering in their treatment. I began to study this
issue of hopelessness, looking for ways to shift patients
to a more cooperative state of mind. I was introduced
to work on expectancy and the placebo effect, and
after two years of studying different aspects of these
phenomena, I happened onto the work going on in the
motivation psychology of business, where imagery was
being used to influence the attitudes of people in
training. The basic issue was about imagining desired
outcomes, which fit together with the placebo effect.
With my first patient in 1971, I asked him to imagine
a desired outcome; that is, simply to imagine himself
getting well. He was supposed to die shortly, and
instead he got well pretty quickly and suffered no
side effects from high-dose radiation therapy. After
that, it was clear that this was going to be my path.
When I completed my residency and began as chief of
radiation therapy at Travis Air Force Base, I had
a brand new department where I was able to do things
as I wanted, so we integrated mind-body work into
the oncology work at Travis Air Force Base.”
That didn’t mean that Carl’s pioneering
work was immediately embraced by his peers. “As
early as ’71, I was receiving strong support
on one hand and very intense criticism on the other,
to the point of receiving death threats. Fortunately,
that was very short-lived, but that’s how intense
it got. Any time you develop a concept that challenges
the existing philosophical concepts of a major bureaucracy,
that bureaucracy will become more polarized and take
a conservative stance opposing the new idea. That
is still going on to a significant degree in American
medicine, and unfortunately, the American medical
model has become the model for the world. In Japan
and China, there was a prevailing holistic perspective
until the 1960s, when they started to try to model
themselves after Western medicine. And sometimes new
converts are more enthusiastic than the originals.
“There are many factions in medicine and in
healthcare. Some are supportive of mind/body concepts
and some are intensely opposed. This debate has been
going on since the time of Hippocrates. The AMA was
formed around 1850, as a political organization to
control American medicine and drive out homeopathy.
Even today, AMA committees control the curricula of
medical schools. There are great political, monetary,
and power interests in keeping things the way they
are. Never underestimate the power of the lobby, the
influence of politics. But there are other folks committed
to understanding how the body works and how the mind
and spirit are integrated into that. Change virtually
always comes from without, not from within the bureaucracy.
“In the case of my own work, there were four
studies assessing the role of counseling in the treatment
of cancer – my preliminary findings, and three
independent randomized matched control studies –
which produced almost identical results: doubling
of expected or median survival times between the counseled
versus the control group. These tests demonstrated
significant improvements in patients’ long-term
survival rate and quality of life! If the source of
these improvements had been a drug instead of a concept,
these findings would have been major news. But because
the improvement doesn’t come from a pill, you
can’t charge for it. You can’t control
it or regulate it in the same ways as a pharmaceutical.
So drug companies are inclined to fight such things,
not to support them. Academia, regulators, insurance
providers – virtually every bureaucracy –
all are inclined to respond the same way. It’s
self-preservation.
“But the important thing is the results. At
first I nearly destroyed myself, trying to force the
universe to shift its thinking. Then I realized my
folly and refocused – not on changing the world
– but on changing myself. There’s an old
saying that if you teach a physician philosophy, he
becomes a healer. That’s the most effective
thing for me to do. The rest of the world is outside
of my control.
“Of course there are two different systems
at work here. One is the public appreciation and the
other is the academic posture. The academic posture
is the same the world over. And so Chinese medicine
is not at all being integrated into academic Western
medicine. But it is being integrated into public Western
medicine, which is consumer-driven.”
Carl suggests that one way to understand the American
health care crisis is to look at the relative well-being
of our physicians. “The health of physicians
has been much worse than the health of the average
person in our culture for a long, long time. That’s
a terrible model, when your healthcare providers have
poor health themselves. So we’re absolutely
in crisis, and things will have to shift. We will
always move in the direction of our nature even though
medicine has been moving away from our nature. But
nature is infinitely patient.”
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The Flip, by Jared Rosen and David Rippe, illuminates
a clear path to a vibrant enlightened world where
millions of people already live and thrive. It describes
in vivid detail and real examples evidence of an upside
down world in decay and a Right Side Up world of authentic
beings bright with possibility.
The Flip is an owner’s manual for the twenty-first
century full of insights, conversations with recognized
experts, thought leaders, and visionaries, and actionable
exercises and tips you can use to begin your own personal
flip.
To read more about The Flip
and additional interviews from other luminaries, experts
and bestselling authors, please visit www.theflip.net
The Flip is available at your
local bookstore or online at
Amazon.com, Barnes
& Noble, Joseph-Beth,
and Borders.
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