Dr. David Peters, Burnout, Resilience and Alternative Medicine

Pushing Boundaries with Dr. Thomas R Verny

My guest today is Dr. David Peters, Professor Emeritus, Westminster Centre for Resilience, College of Liberal Arts and Science University of Westminster, London. He has co-authored or edited five books about complementary therapies including The Encyclopaedia of Complementary Medicine in 1997, followed by The complete Guide to Integrated Medicine in 2000, Understanding the placebo response in complementary medicine and Integrating Complementary Therapies: a practical guide for primary care both in 2001 and in 2007, New Medicine.
David started his medical career as a musculo-skeletal physician and gradually branched out to include osteopathy and acupuncture working with the relaxation response, yoga and meditation. A particular clinical interest of his is in dysregulatory syndromes where pain and/or fatigue often overlap, and in the autonomic imbalance and breathing pattern disorders seen so frequently associated with them.
There is a pandemic of chronic diseases that is decimating the world. Diseases like obesity, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease and, of course, cancer. What has gone wrong? Many things; industrialization spewing toxins into the air, water and food, consumerism, “hunting for unreachable goals”, large discrepancies in income. For example, there are many neighborhoods in large cities where the average life expectancy is 60 years, while a few miles further, it is 80.
David takes groups of doctors suffering of burnouts camping into the woods for a day or two. Works like magic. For this and much more, listen or watch the full interview.
As a follow up, my next guest will be Dr. Mel Borins, author of Go Away Just for the Health of It, An Apple a Day: A Holistic Health Primer and A Doctor’s Guide to Alternative Medicine: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why. He has written extensively on stress management, psychotherapy, acupuncture, traditional healing, herbs and complementary medicine. Hope you can join me.
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