Medicine Needs a Divorce

So many providers are struggling. To heal is a vocation, and one that one is not lightly entered into. The vocation of healing is a tree whose roots are grounded in our ancestral past and the branches reach out to our scientific future. To be successful as a healer, one must be willing to stand solidly with the feet anchored by the wisdom of their forebearers while still having the drive and excitement to reach towards the knowledge of our successors. One must do all this and still practice discernment to know what is truth, what will actually elp those they seek to heal, and what will heal themselves. Because, fundamentally, one cannot hope to heal another if they, themselves, are also wounded. This balanced position requires time. 

The healing of others is known to be a uniquely feminine path. But before I continue let me clarify, that this is not feminine in the sense of gender, but feminine in the way that the moon, the earth, or water is. Women tend to innately understand these cycles because of the cycles their bodies go through monthly. It is death, birth, rebirth, chaos, and the void. To heal is to slow, to rest, to regenerate, and to hibernate. The time of Healing is the “winter” in a person’s life. And to be a Healer is to go into the depths of winter with another, and hold their hand as they find their way out. You are the guide, the wayshower, the hermit who lights the path as they walk out on their own. Medicine that is done well is slow, attended, and attentive. 

When medicine is placed within a patriarchal system like capitalism, there is a need to monetize this process and to give it speed. Here enters quick visits and overrun providers who seek to meet their quota so they can get paid. A cure is traded for a bandaid and rewarded by a dollar. This process robs the healer of the joy and thrill of the hunt for the cure and robs the wounded of the opportunity to be healed. The longer time spent in this system, the more likely the healer will be defeated. 

In a country where we find few examples of individuals demonstrating a faith that is worth emulating, I have an example in my father. He attends a small messianic Jewish church in Vancouver, WA where every Sunday the church prays as a whole. This is not unique, but the method is what gave me insight. Each week, the children are placed in the center of the circle, then the women in a circle around them, and then men to the outside. All members pray over the most vulnerable in the community to bring strength, protection, and guidance to those who need it most. This is the most profound example of matriarchy I have ever witnessed. 

At first brush, it may seem like another example of patriarchy. The men are circling around to keep everyone else subordinate. But this is far from the truth. The reality is the healers, the creators, the makers are surrounding the most vulnerable and attending to those people closely. And the masculine is wrapping that cherished energy in a container that is the protection of their body and spirit. This is matriarchy and patriarchy in the equal balance. 

To be in a matriarchy is to be on equal footing. Standing shoulder to shoulder, lifting up our weakest members in healing and protection on a visceral and physical level but also spiritually and emotionally. It is the understanding that when the weakest of us succeeds we are all better for it. It stands on the foundation of the deep understanding that there will be enough because we share equally in the blessings and the burdens. Because of that foundation, we all feel safe knowing that there will be enough resources for all, time can slow. We are given back the gift of time, which is where the feminine arts await. 

Medicine needs a divorce. The wounded patriarchy and capitalism have created a system that doesn’t support the healing space. Healers are so handicapped that they suffer from the worst affliction of all - lack of inspiration in the craft. This is a movement that has already started in small ways, through people speaking out against insurance companies, individual providers breaking off to provide care, healers leaving medicine in droves to seek other careers and heal their hearts. 

But there is another way. Imagine the circle described earlier and apply to our system. A group of individuals circle in the role of protection. This is the administration at the practice. They are the wall that protects the time, space, money, resources of the healers. Inside that circle are the healers who are given autonomy. They have time to spark creatively and push forward out the branches of the tree towards our scientific future. They test and try new things drawn from the roots of our ancestors. They spend the time it takes to replenish themselves and pull out the weeds of dis-ease from the root. No one goes hungry and all benefit because we stand balanced on even footing knowing that we are guided, protected, and when the weakest of us prospers the strongest does too. 

This shift is not just an ideal; it's a practice we strive to embody every day at Something Human. It's time to stop treating medicine like a transaction and start treating it like the sacred art of healing it is. It is time to seek care that honors the time, slowness, and deep attentiveness required for true healing. Join us in this movement. Come to our practice and see what slow medicine looks like and then go and implement it in your life and the world.

Contact us today to schedule an intake and experience the difference of balanced, protective, and whole-person care.