Lissa Rankin – Sacred Medicine: Grounded Hope for Optimal Health Outcomes. 24 May 2023

Trigger alert - trauma is discussed and questions are shared which may lead you to reflect on your life experiences in light of trauma.

Lissa begins her talk with an orientation to her background, expect some raw honesty - including the mental health impact of her life circumstances and profession as a gynaecologist.

A quote that really struck me in this talk was “You can quit your job, but you can’t quit your calling”.

She then moves into exploring “sacred medicine”, her experiences working with shamans and qigong masters - she passionately discusses the shadow in this field and explains why this led her to work in the trauma field, including internal family systems. She talks about the placebo, nocebo and mega-placebo effects, as well as medical hexing! She talks about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and whether treating trauma can reverse risk factors and health outcomes. She also touches on traumas that are not ACEs, developmental trauma, and the neuro-physiology of trauma’s link to disease. The good news: trauma can be treated and it’s never too late.

She wraps her talk up with “energy transfusions” if we are low of life force energy, early and later stage trauma treatments and directions for the future.

Report by Natalie Mears