Medicine is part of my family history
My biography starts with my great grandfather, Percy Harris M.D.,
lived and practiced in Scottsville, Virginia. He developed a good
reputation as a caring doctor for his town. He used to take his horse
and buggy to make house calls, and sometimes he would be so tired after
delivering a baby, he would lie down in the back of the buggy and the
horse would take him home as he slept. One time, he bought a horse from
the mailman, and wherever he went the horse would stop at every mailbox
without fail.
Percy Harris M.D. was mentioned on the T.V. show "The Walton's" several times.
He was also the mayor of Scottsville for 10 years. The Scottsville
Museum has a display in honor of Dr. Percy Harris for the good medical
care and services he provided to his community for many years.
My family wanted to have another doctor in the family after my grandfather died.
My father approached me in my late teens and asked if I ever thought
about being a doctor. At that moment I knew that I wanted to be a
doctor that didn't treat people with drugs or surgery. My Dad laughed
happily and said I would be a good doctor anyway. I said, "I'm
serious, I don't want to treat people with drugs or surgery". I had
never heard of such a doctor, and neither had anyone else that I knew.
During my pre-med courses at college, I talked with many people about
the type of doctor I wanted to be; they were supportive but didn't know
what I was talking about.
Starting my Education
One day while I was walking across campus, a friend called to me.
She handed me a paper with the name "John Bastyr College of
Naturopathic Medicine" written on it. I felt a flash like lightening
and shouted, "That's it, I'm going to be a Naturopathic doctor!" I'm
grateful to her everyday for that note.
I finished my Biology/ Pre-med, interviewed at John Bastyr College
of Naturopathic Medicine and was accepted. Also, I joined the U.S.
Army as a medic which helped pay the way to fulfill my dream.
I went to school with a great group of people at John Bastyr College
of Naturopathic Medicine. We worked hard, studied hard, and supported
each other to get through the program and graduate. I'm proud of my
class, as they have truly contributed to the advancement of
Naturopathic medicine, and still do. The year we graduated the college
name changed to Bastyr University.
Opening my practice
I opened my first practice in the Medical Arts Building
at Northwest Hospital. I practiced there over a year before moving to
my current office at 7201 5th Avenue NE.
While at Northwest, I was invited by Bill Turska N.D. in Mist,
Oregon to come and help him. He was my first mentor. He was an
old-timey Naturopath that had a history of incredible cures. I would
work with him on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, and at my practice
in Seattle on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. One night when we had
finished working with clients, Dr. Turska and I stayed up and talked
for a long time into the night. When I woke up the next morning, I
felt different, like I was no longer a young Doc working with a mentor
but two colleagues working together. It wasn't his words to me, it was
something else. He would talk about how he worked on patients through
the ethers, and I think he worked on me.
My second mentor
My second mentor has been Dietrich Klinghardt M.D., PhD. who taught
me Neural Therapy. I spent two days a month for eight months working
with Dr. Klinghardt, and continued training with him at intervals for
over four years. I vividly remember the first patient who came to me
for Neural Therapy. He was dying from diarrhea, loosing 15 pounds a
week for the past 2 weeks, had seen many doctors, and nothing had
helped. I tested him and found that he had a problem root canal. I
sent him to a dentist, had the root canal treated, and the diarrhea
stopped immediately. From that moment I recognized how powerful a
healing tool Neural Therapy could be in discovering the cause of
disease. I am grateful to Dr's Turska and Klinghardt for their
patience and mentorship, and for their willingness to pass on their
experience to me.
When the student is ready the teacher arrives
The next phase of my training has been about doing my own inner
work. I have searched for a spiritual teacher in many traditions and
finally found one, Sathya Sai Baba in India. His words "All paths lead
to the same God" got through to me and I was able to rest.
I went to the Northwest School of Healing in Bellevue, Washington
which taught skills similar to Barbara Brennan's school in New York.
The teacher, Pat (Alima) Hamilton, taught energy healing and the
importance of working on myself as well as others. Then I met John
Boren. He is a spiritual counselor and led me into the deepest,
darkest, secret parts of myself in as kind and polite of a way as it
can be possibly done. I have been profoundly changed by the work we
have done together. I owe him my life. I pray everyone has such fine
skilled teachers as I have had in my life. I pray that I do right by
them with every breath I take, and every word I say; I offer it all to
God.
I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to
serve as a Naturopathic Physician. I am honored to serve as a doctor.
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