Animal Assisted Psychotherapy

East Meets West I have moved along from my 40-year mainstream practice in psychotherapy to founding an alternative, non-profit institute, the Tao Studies Center, in Framingham, MA.  The therapy work here is the study and practice of Chinese health and self-healing, especially through the wisdom of the Tao, as put forth in the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, an early and unwitting purveyor of Taoist philosophy — and also through the study and use of the many Tao-influenced disciplines evolved and practiced in China and throughout the world for centuries. Some of these practices include the popular self-discovery art taught in I Ching: the Book of Changes; the practices of Tai Chi and Qi Gong; the immense body of knowledge comprised in Chinese  Medicine, Acupressure, and Acupuncture; the relational and loving arts in the Kama Sutra; and the elevation of music, poetry, and visual arts so that they are key elements in modulating states-of-consciousness and states-of-health. Those who are musicians and artists may find this arts/self-discovery work to be especially deep, exciting, and self-revealing. “Taoism”  is not a religion, or some god that requires worship and prostration. It is a philosophy for health in daily life, minimizing or moving through conflict, and harmonizing with nature, often in surprising ways. […]