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Transformation through writing
The
following articles were published in the Wellness Networker, the
Maritimes' Premier Source for Wellness, Health and Personal Growth Information.
This free directory-magazine is distributed in the Provinces of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and Prince-Edouard-Island. We adhere to its mission to cultivate
awareness and acceptance of a natural whole and balanced approach to life by
connecting and educating the community and help others live a happier and
healthier life. With this in mind, we share with you these articles.
| Article
24 - The
Empowerment of Community Healing by Carolji Corbeil and Eric Forgues, Wellness
Networker magazine, January 2006, New Brunswick. (translation:
Carolji Corbeil) |
Whether it takes place on the collective level or on an individual basis,
healing calls upon a deep-seated respect for the lifelong experiences,
convictions and certainties of all those concerned. In a spirit of respect and
recognition, we wish to share with you our thoughts on the subject of Community
Healing.
On July 28, 2005, the Acadie Nouvelle Newspaper published an editorial
pertaining to the Day of Commemoration of the Great
Deportation in which the reader could find the following excerpt:
"..., l’Acadie has demanded that the Crown express its regrets for the
serious damages and prejudices inflicted on our people. The response given was a
recognition of the historical facts. The offering of regrets
was too much to ask for. It is impossible for us to turn the
page. July 28 of each year will never commemorate the healing of our wound.
Instead, it will serve as a memorial to the
wound itself as long as the Crown does not demonstrate a more significant sentiment."
[1]
(our translation)
This editorial excerpt gives rise to questions about the collective healing
process when the trauma afflicts a whole community. The consciousness-raising of
a collective trauma favours the release of the residual memories which can lead
to the re-establishment of a solid and lasting relationship on an equal
basis with those who have inflicted the pain and suffering. Often, strong
emotions emerge from this awakening process giving rise to a desire to name the
culprits, to backslide into
judgement and to summon up excuses. By doing so, we express and reveal our
distress by displaying outwardly the emotional suffering confined within
ourselves. At this point, it may be tempting to turn away from the
responsibility of our own healing.
The
enduring memory of the Great
Deportation within
the collective imagination
of the Acadian people is compelling evidence that a wound so deeply anchored in
the depths of the core of their collective identity seems to overshadow the
efforts to heal the trauma. Therefore, the question being raised is how can a
community heal itself from such a painful episode of its past?
How can healing occur between those who cultivate the memory of the traumatic
event to the point where it has become the founding act of the Acadie, and those
who maintain that grasping the full potential of the present requires that we
cease to call forth this past occurrence? This leads us to ask if there is a
true healing intention?
The constant reminiscence of the Great Deportation in
the newspapers and community events reminds us of Caroline Myss’ audio-book: Why
People Don't Heal.
In this work, Caroline Myss examines why some people do not heal. According to
Myss, often times, the wound or trauma gives a life purpose to those who define
themselves by the wound and who then develop a language around it. These
individuals move from one therapy to another in search of a healing solution but
they do not heal. Metaphorically, it is like getting on board a healing vessel
yet instead of crossing to the other bank, one instead sails in circles in the
middle of the river. Their wound becomes the reason for which they bond with
others. A network of friendships and acquaintances is created around the wound
thus offering the individual a life direction while contributing to the
definition of their self-identity.
According to Caroline Myss, these attitudes are part of what she calls
“woundology”, the establishment of relationships by virtue of sharing a
common wound. Basically, the concept of “woundology” allows the individual
to use the wound to define and distinguish the self and to determine under what
condition bonds are created with others and it may go as far as manipulating
others so as to play upon their sense of guilt.
This reasoning can be extended to the community as well. What will the Acadian
people be making of the memory of their wound? Is there a real intention to heal
or is there a preference to maintain the actualization of the collective wound
for identity, political or economical reasons? What role are Acadian leaders
willing to play in the healing process and the restoration of peace on the
collective level, knowing that a symbolic gesture such as a collective event may
have a considerable restoring effect? What kind of gesture might
facilitate healing, if there is a true collective willingness to move
in that direction?
We may believe that in order to repair the harm inflicted on the Acadian people,
the healing process must involve the request for apologies from the offender,
followed up by substantial financial compensations. This persistent act of
demanding apologies only serves to prolong the affect of the wound and to likely
confine the Acadian people to the victim role. We suggest that healing starts
well before the presentation of apologies. The real healing empowerment of the
Acadian community manifests in the forgiveness. The apologies will only have a
positive effect if they complete a healing process already brought forward by
forgiveness which foreshadows reconciliation.
The act of forgiveness makes it possible to integrate the trauma, (without
forgetting), and to surmount the pain. The historical status of this traumatic
event will then be placed in perspective allowing the Acadian People to
reconnect with more positive foundational ev
ents.
We may wish to inspire ourselves through the thoughtful reflection and healing
initiatives of the aboriginal communities which have experienced extensive
traumatic events of their own. For example, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation,
whose mission is to support the aboriginal people and to encourage them to
conceive, develop and reinforce a community healing process, has recently
created a National Day of Healing and Reconciliation (NDHR) which takes place on
May 26th of each year [4].
Several other initiatives take place in their respective communities in order
that they may reconnect with their spiritual heritage and develop and rediscover
positive references to define their cultural identity.
The holistic aboriginal healing traditions acknowledge the importance of the
community in the healing process by emphasizing the bonds which connect each and
every member. The aboriginal healers teach that the healing process occurs
through the re-establishment of harmonious connections between the community
members and all of their relations. The healing circles [5]
are based on a traditional concept of respect, honour, sharing and
consensus-building and are created with the intent of providing an equal voice
for both offender(s) and victim(s) within their communities. For example, the
restorative justice program set up in the community of Elsipogtog in New
Brunswick is a framework which uses the traditional justice model and is aimed
at restoring harmony and wellness in the community[6].
Within the community, the one who has committed a wrongdoing is encouraged to
recognize their responsibility. The recognition of the wrongful gesture plays an
intricate part in the healing circle’s efficiency. While having broken harmony
and balance within the community, the perpetrator is encouraged to willingly
partake in the re-establishment of harmony within his/her community. The
offender must heal by his own free will and knows that his healing is directly
related to the success of the community’s healing and wellness. From this
point of view, justice is not separated from the healing. This affects not only
the individual and collective dimension, but also the mental, emotional and
spiritual dimensions. Through justice restoration, harmony and wellness are
restored.
A collective wound hides a complex reality. As a member of a community, we carry
within us various degrees of emotional hurt issuing from our past history which
we transmit, from generation to generation, into our social bonding by the
constant re-actualization of the trauma. By cultivating the emotional trauma
from the past, the community’s collective imagination also remains captive of
its suffering. The on-going re-enactment of the emotional trauma may prevent us
to fully benefit from the opportunities in the present life.
In the absence of a collective healing process, the identity of a community
tends to structure itself on the reactualized wound through what is termed the
“duty of remembrance”. It may happen that we do not feel the need to heal
since we maintain our relations with others through the similarity of our wound
which represents a distinctive characteristic of our collective identity.
Consequently, the imprint of the collective memory remains hidden within us
behind a veil of emotional density and
is maintained by the fear of the change, the fear of the other and even
the fear of healing.
Healing occurs in the present moment and starts with a clear intention and a
willingness to release past residues of a wound
which restrained us within its memory. The conscious integration of an
emotional wound experience supposes its recognition without creating any
opposing principles of resistance and conflict. The liberation of the collective
memory will activate the unfolding of a new kind of energy which will enable us
to participate in an enriching, spontaneous and creative community destiny.
It
is through the collective gestures of reaching out to the entire community that
we can begin the healing process which will liberate us from our collective
wounds and it is from this vantage point that we can restore harmony throughout
the community and allow the emergence of our true creative nature while
developing our full potential for equanimity within our relationships with
others.
The
authors Carolji Corbeil and Eric Forgues
(Translation: Carolji Corbeil)
are
Reiki Masters Teachers and Healing Touch Practitioners.
Moncton,
New Brunswick,(506) 532-1593 - Contact
Us
References
:
Editorial by M. Maurice Rainville, L’Acadie Nouvelle, July 28th 2005
Audio Book « Why people
don’t heal », Caroline Myss, http://www.myss.com/
Aboriginal Healing Foundation, http://www.ahf.ca/
The National Day of Healing and Reconciliation (NDHR)
http://www.ndhr.ca/
Healing Circles http://www.upei.ca/si/si2004/html/Circle%20of%20Health.pdf
Elsipogtog
restorative justice program
http://www.espacesacre.ca/restorativejusticeprogram.htm
RETOUR
| Article
19 - Book review: L'envers de la pillule, J.-Claude St-Onge, by
Eric Forgues, Magazine Wellness Networker, october 2005, Moncton N.B.
(translation: Carolji Corbeil)
|
Just
as I was completing the French book “L’envers de la Pillule”, by J.-Claude
St-Onge, it was announced in the news that a Texas state court jury had found
Merck; a multinational pharmaceutical corporation, responsible for the sudden
death of a 59-year old man who had been taking Vioxx-a recently banned
Merck-manufactured wonder drug generally prescribed for osteo-arthritis and pain
symptoms. A revealing and scathing analysis of the pharmaceutical industry,
L’envers de la Pillule”, identifies several other medications like Vioxx,
which jeopardize the health of the population while greatly increasing the
health and wellbeing of the corporate wallets of the pharmaceutical industry.
(PI) (see table 1)
|
In
2002, the profits from ten Fortune 500 pharmaceutical corporations were higher
than the total sum of combined profits from all of the other 490
pharmaceutical companies listed. (p. 27).
|
I
was compelled to read this book after becoming aware of a disturbing increase in
the consumption of antidepressants throughout several Western countries. For
example, a recent report on the French television network, RDI, stated that
since 2001, the number of people who consume antidepressants has more than
doubled in the United States. Either our neighbors are an increasingly
depressive population or pharmaceutical companies have so perfected their
marketing techniques as to make the American public believe, on a mass scale,
that they are a nation of depression
sufferers. St-Onge’s revelations make it possible for us to understand why the
population consumes as many drugs as it does and also asks us to ponder whether
it is prudent for governments and consumers to place the control of drug
production into the capitalistic hands of private pharmaceutical companies.
According to St-Onge, the determining
factor in the orientation of pharmaceutical mercantile activities is bottom-line
profit margins.This drug manufacturing stimulate enormous profits within the
Pharmaceutical Industry, but may not necessarily be in the best interests of
consumers. The author’s exploration of the underside of the pharmaceutical
world, impels the reader to ask the question, could it be that pharmaceutical
companies are far more inclined to worry about the padding in their wallets than
the health and well-being of the consumer?
In
the case of the Vioxx fiasco for example, the Texas jury deemed that Mercks knew
that the drug was linked to an increase in heart attacks and cardiac incidents
and posed a serious health risk to consumers even though the company did not
pull the drug off the market until after the first reported Vioxx related-death.
The
fact that pharmaceutical products are directly related to the health of
consumers world-wide is worrisome: will a pharmaceutical corporation, after
having invested millions of dollars in research and development (R&D) and
marketing setup be prepared to withdraw a product from the drug store shelves if
it learns that the product may cause harmful side effects?
In
his examination of corporate practices, St-Onge explores the subject of patent
rights and suggests that since the consumer cost of patented products is on
average three times the cost of a generic drug, pharmaceutical companies
work to secure a lengthy lifespan of their drug patents in order to maintain the
commercial exclusivity of their product. The guaranteed freeze-out of less
costly generic drugs (which are made of exactly the same components) can be
achieved by making a slight modification to the brand-name drug so as to prevent
any other companies from producing the same product and selling it a much lower
cost. For example, Bristol Myers Squibb, (makers of Bufferin & Excedrin)
succeeded in delaying the commercial introduction of a less costly,
anxiety-reducing, generic drug by simply designing two very small furrows on its
pill in order to facilitate cutting it into two pieces.
Corporations within the industry
defend this practice by pointing out the large sums of money which is invested
in Research & Development when testing a new drug. However the author
hastens to deflate the R&D cost presented by the PI. Whereas the PI claims
that it can cost upwards of one billion dollars to develop a new drug, the
author places the cost of Research and Development much closer to 70 million
dollars.
Moreover, St-Onge shows that the
expenses of market setup and advertisement represent twice the amount invested
in R&D. The marketing strategies employed by the PI aim simultaneously at
the consumers as well as the medical profession. For instance, the PI invests 20
000$ per year for each doctor residing in Québec. This strategy seems tobe a
winning one for the drug manufacturers.(see table 2).
·
In 1987, 18% of patients asked
their doctor to prescribe them a particular drug
·
This rate increased to 54% in
1992
·
84% of the doctors said they
would consider
prescribing a drug if the patient were to
request it.
|
The majority of the R&D
surrounding drug production is carried out by the PI. In fact, it is corporate
economic interests which drive the R&D for new products. For example,
knowing that 80% of all prescribed medications are consumed in the
industrialized countries, we are not suprised to learn that from the 1223 new
drugs produced between 1975 and 1997, only thirteen were intended for diseases
specific to tropical countries. As the author emphasizes, "there is an
incompatibility between the commercial goals and the scientific goals of these
tests" (our translation, p. 98). It is however, on the basis of this
research that government agencies authorize the commercialisation of drugs.
Of course, the interest of the PI is
to encourage the customer to buy drugs. The PI will present their product in
such a way as to encourage consumer purchasing. For example, producers of the
drug Tamoxifen (an estrogen receptor blocker) affirm that it reduces the risk of
having breast cancer by 49%. In fact, a study carried out on 13,388 women showed
that 124 women treated with this drug have had cancer comparatively to 244 women
treated with a placebo (120 or less cases correspond to 49% of the 244 women).
In other words, to reduce the risk of only one cancer case, 77 women had to have
been treated, which means that 76 women consumed the product without drawing any
benefit from the drug. Several preventive drugs are consumed in this very same
way.
J-Claude St-Onge explains that with
the complicity of the health “experts”
the PI is contributing to the medicalization of natural stages of our
life. Menopause, timidity (social phobia) and pre-menstrual syndrome are now
identified as diseases. Each of these diseases created by the health
“experts" now has its own “little pill.” What makes it a good deal
for the PI is that the consumer blindly supports the PI’s ",tendency to
medicalize the normal stages of the life of an individual, of his state of heart
and of his emotions" (our translation, p. 144).
|
Conventional
wisdom says that drugs are developed in response to disease. Often,
however, the power of pharma PR creates the reverse phenomenon, in
which new diseases are defined by companies seeking to create a
market to match their drug.
-Article Entitled “Disease Mongering”, Centre For Media
& Democracy
|
The author of L’Envers de la Pilule
admits that he was tempted to call his book “Who Are The Real Drug Pushers?”
Today, pharmaceutical corporations exploit our dis-eases while using the media
and the medical profession to push their drugs onto our society. This compels us
to reflect upon the orientation of current health practices in our present-day
society. It is always tempting for the population to opt for the quick and easy
solution offered by prescription drugs in order to relieve symptoms. But one
must question whether this is a long-term viable approach to real bonafide
healing. Do pills prevent us from seeking the true origin of our diseases? Are
we attempting to numb each physical discomfort and emotionnal discomfort? Envers
de la Pillule invites us to ask ourselves these questions and to ponder
whether the enormous resources devoted to prescribed drugs could be better
employed in our collective journey toward health and wellness.
Other
items of interest
~Between
1998 and 2002, the quantity of antidepressants prescribed for children between
the ages of 6-12 years, increased by 142% while prescriptions for the 13-18 year
age group showed an increase of 136% . (p.31)
~In
the province of Quebec, diseases related to medication consumption are
responsible for 5%-23% of the hospitalizations of those 65 years old & over.
(p.45) These figures are similar to the entire hospital admissions in the United
States . (p.65)
~The
Canadian Institute for information on health stresses that since 1975, the cost
associated with the consumption of drugs has increased by 1267%; twice the total
amount spent on Health Care. (p.30)
|
Highlight: The global
pharmaceutical industry--which generated revenues of more
than
$364 billion in 2001--is the world's most profitable stock market
sector.
According to IMS Health, the leading drug industry market
analyst, half the
global drug sales are in the US alone, with
Europe and Japan accounting for another 37%.~ Publishers of PR
Watch-The Center for Media and Democracy |
To
Learn More:
www.consumeraffairs.com
Center
For Media & Democracy www.prwatch.org
The
author Eric Forgues (Translation:
Carolji Corbeil)
is
Reiki Master Teacher and Healing Touch Practitioner.
Moncton,
New Brunswick,(506) 532-1593 - Contact
Us
RETOUR
| Article
5.- Emergence of the Cultural Creatives, by Eric Forgues, Wellness Networker Magazine,
October october 2004, New Brunswick.
(translation: Carolji Corbeil) |
A powerful new subculture is transforming the
western civilization. This statement has
been substantially corroborated by a colossal research conducted in the United
States and overseen by a Canadian psychologist
and an American sociologist. Following a twelve year research project delineated
by 100,000 surveys, Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson have shown that 26% of all
Americans, which represents 50 million people, are changing the world by
creating a new culture. The Cultural Creatives define themselves through their
sensitivity towards the environment and a more defined feminine perspective of
the world, in unison with a new health and spiritual approach.
The
Cultural Creatives are subdivided into two distinct groups. Each group
representing approximately 25 million people: the central core group, considered
to be advanced, has created a connecting structure with the environment, social
justice, feminine vision of the world and psycho-spiritual development.
As per the outward-bound group, even
if they share common social values with the central core group, the
bringing about of connecting the social and spiritual issues represents a more
significant challenge. In fact, they appear noticeably less interested by the
psycho-spiritual development.
While
Cultural Creatives act as a new cultural segment of the society,
one
essential element is missing: their own consciousness as a group
|
This
cultural group is a tangible result of a maturation and convergence which began
in the effervescence of the sixties along with the women’s social movement,
ecological activities, self-actualisation,
conscious awareness, peace, self-expression, etc. In the appreciation of
the full extent of this completion, it is known that in the early sixties, the
portion of Americans that was sharing these new values represented 5% of the
total number of the population.
Therefore,
American Society is actually divided into three distinguishable cultural groups:
the Traditionalists, the Modernists and the Cultural
Creatives
:
The
Traditionalists (depicting 24% of the population) are adherents of a patriarchal
vision pertaining to the relationship between men and women. They have a strong
sense of belonging to the family, the community and the Church. Accordingly,
they believe that the Bible contains the entirety of knowledge necessary and that
rural life is more favourable than the urban environment. They have a certain
mistrust for foreigners and novelties. Mutual aid and solidarity are predominant
values within their community.
The
modernistic group accounts for 48% of the population. The foundation of our
current society is built on the values of this group. This dominating cultural
group has a leniency towards work and leisure, material and professional success,
economic and technological progress. The majority of these individuals sustain
competitiveness and reject what is related to the traditional vision of the
world, aboriginal culture, monks, mystics
and the New Age.
|
We
want to make the Cultural Creatives visible to each other.
Paul
H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson
|
Society
is also made up of a third cultural
group, which does not actively support current modern interests and activities
such as the arenas of conventional media, political, medical, and economic
establishments that are considered to be the proponents and supporters of
environmental neglect and social injustice.
The
dominant media and political parties give an impression that they are unaware of
this significant cultural transformation. The leaders of society convey their
message to the Traditionalist and the Modernistic groups as if the Cultural
Creatives were nonexistent. Moreover, it appears that Cultural Creatives
themselves are ignorant of their rising importance.
On
average, Cultural Creatives believe themselves to account for only 5% of the
population when in fact, they represent five times this estimation. However, the
most crucial factor, which makes a group a true social force for change, is the
consciousness that it has of itself as a group. The authors of this colossal
study are astonished by the fact that this new group is politically under
organized and their presence in other social realms is trivial. Anderson and Ray
support the values of these
leading edge creators and wish
to make the Cultural Creatives more visible to one another.
|
The
most crucial factor which makes of a group
a true social actor
is
the conscience that it has of itself
|
On
this particular point, it should be noted that progress has been observed in the
recognition of the Cultural Creatives and the institutionalisation of their
practices. For instance, there is now an educational environmental program
available in universities, which was not the case just a few years ago.
Integrated, holistic practices are more widely recognized and better organized.
Some hospitals in Canada and around the world have integrated these practices in
unison with the official medical establishment. As a matter of interest, the
alternative or complimentary care refunding expenses by the insurance companies
in the province of Quebec has increased more quickly than those of traditional
medical care, thus giving us an accurate indication of the profound impact which
this new group has had on our society. In addition, a more feminine vision of
the world is being integrated into family life, as well as within economic and
political organisations.
It
will be interesting to observe the transformational potential this group will
have on our society as well as on a global level throughout the coming years. For
the authors, this change indicates a strong cultural tendency.
Each year, the 18-24 year-old proportion of the population increases. The
Cultural Creatives are guaranteed their place in society and will influence its
development with the power of their
genuine creative abilities.
Are
you a Cultural Creative?
Do
you want to know if you are a Cultural Creative? Consult the following website:
http://www.culturalcreatives.org/questionnaire.html
(English)
To
learn more: The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
by
Paul
H. Ray, Sherry
Ruth Anderson Ph.D., Paul
H. Ray Ph.D. - Edition:
Hardcover - http://www.culturalcreatives.org/
The
author Eric Forgues (Translation:
Carolji Corbeil)
is
Reiki Master Teacher and Healing Touch Practitioner.
Moncton,
New Brunswick,(506) 532-1593 - Contact
Us
RETOUR
|
