The presentations below are from our 2008 conference, Relationship: Integrating the Science and Spirit of Healing. Presentations can be purchased through Resourceful Recordings of Vermont. True North will not be hosting a 2009 conference.
Click on the quick links below, or scroll down the page, to read each talk description for our conference.
Wednesday, October 15
7:30pm
Creative Power of Our Emotions
C. Allie Knowlton, LCSW, MSW, DCSW and Evelyn Rysdyk
Thursday, October 16
8:30am
The Role of Prayer, Faith, Spirituality and Religion in Healing
Mark Houston, MD
9:30am
Using The Functional Medicine Matrix
Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., ND
11:00am
The Mystery of Listening: Using Music to Cultivate Presence
Gary Malkin
Friday, October 17
8:30am
The Challenged Brain: Using Biomarkers to Understand & Treat Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Patrick Hanaway, MD
10:30am
The Ecology of The Child: A Post-Modern View of Pediatric Mental Health
Scott Shannon, MD
Saturday, October 18
8:30am
Living Medicine
Gladys McGarey, MD, MD (H)
9:30am
The Wisdom of The Matrix: Regulation, Balance, and Harmony
Martha Stark, M.D.
11:00am
All My Relations: Ten Thousand Models for Healing
Susan Chernak McElroy
Wednesday, October 15
7:30pm
CREATIVE POWER OF OUR EMOTIONS
C. Allie Knowlton, LCSW, MSW, DCSW and Evelyn Rysdyk
This presentation is designed to show us how changing our state of being--returning to harmony and balance—shifts not only our own life but the world around us, as well. We will learn how feelingsaffect our DNA and our immune response, how DNA changes in the presence of emotional energy and how our feelings alter other people as wellas the surrounding environment. Through proven methods we will learn the fascinating process ofmastering our own “Inner Technology” as a tool for working with our patients.
Thursday, October 16
8:30am
THE ROLE OF PRAYER, FAITH, SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION IN HEALING
Mark Houston, MD
This keynote will be a discussion of Judeo Christian biblical principles aligned with recent medical studies that clearly define the improvement in healing and health in patients who apply prayer, faith, spirituality and religion in their daily life.
9:30am
USING THE FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE MATRIX
Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., ND
The matrix is the fundamental tool used by Functional Medicine practitioners to assess a patient's health and wellness, or to address a specific disease state. In this keynote, Dr. Pizzorno will teach how to apply the principles of Functional Medicine and apply the key elements of the Functional Medicine matrix in clinical practice.
11:00am
THE MYSTERY OF LISTENING: USING MUSIC TO CULTIVATE PRESENCE
Gary Malkin
Music, combined with other "non linear" languages (such as poetry, film, dance, and visual art), has the power to integrate, awaken, inspire and uplift. Music, listening and the arts are essential tools for cultivating the development of our social, spiritual and emotional capacities. In health care encounters, we can use the power of integrative listening - a contemplative practice all its own – to deepen our connection to meaning,strengthen our relationship to the present moment, and help us cultivate relationships that are healing, authentic, and resilient. We can actually experience the primacy of sound as a portal towards our true, innate, presence.
Friday, October 17
8:30am
THE CHALLENGED BRAIN: USING BIOMARKERS TO UNDERSTAND & TREAT AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Patrick Hanaway, MD
Children with autistic spectrum disorders have been labeled as the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ given their [genetic] predisposition for neuro-developmental problems. This session will highlight a functional medicine approach to understanding imbalances that occur in autism, in particular: the gut-brain connection, heavy metal toxicity, immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, methylation defects, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Dr. Hanaway will explain and review the use of biomarkers to determine effective treatment approaches for autism.
10:30am
THE ECOLOGY OF THE CHILD: A POST-MODERN VIEW OF PEDIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH
Scott Shannon, MD
In this talk, Dr. Shannon reviews the neuroscience of the child’s brain, especially as it relates to plasticity and relational development and reviews the concerns with both the reliability and validity of our diagnostic system. The rapidly escalating use of psychiatric medications is contrasted with the current level of evidence for efficacy and safety. Dr. Shannon explains why we must embrace an ecological view of children’s mental health.
Saturday, October 18
8:30am
LIVING MEDICINE
Gladys McGarey, MD, MD (H)
Medicine as it is practiced has become a war machine. Disease is our enemy and must be destroyed—in the process too often the person has been forgotten. The concept of Living Medicine focuses on the individual person, enhancing their life force and using the tools we have to help people have a more abundant life. As we do this, our focus will change from killing to living.
9:30am
THE WISDOM OF THE MATRIX: REGULATION, BALANCE, AND HARMONY
Martha Stark, M.D.
In this keynote address, we will explore the idea that the maintenance of balance and harmony within the body is accomplished by way of the innate wisdom of the ground regulation system, also known as the connective tissue or extracellular matrix. Because this matrix is a highly ordered array of molecules it is able to facilitate the high-speed, body-wide flow of information and energy necessary to preserve optimal health and vitality. Dr. Stark proposes that it is this extracellular matrix that gives rise to the interdependence of the various components of the functional medicine matrix, and gives meaning to, and makes possible, the very existence of thisconstruct.
11:00am
ALL MY RELATIONS: TEN THOUSAND MODELS FOR HEALING
Susan Chernak McElroy
In our skins, we are still Pleistoscene people, and that which informed, healed, and inspired us back then, does so now: Nature, in all her flavors, textures, and kin, remains the clear, pure page we write ourselves upon. She remains our finest prescription for healing and balance.
