Holistic And Integrative Medicine

Faculty, Staff and Physician Mentors:

Ellen Beck, MD

Dr. Beck's primary interest as a family physician is teaching and practicing a "mind-body" approach to medicine by incorporating counseling, teaching and balancing Western and contemporary approaches.

Working in collaboration with medical students in 1997 Dr. Beck initiated and has continued to direct the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic for the homeless and underserved. In 2002 she was awarded the Norman Cousins Award by the Fetzer Institute for this important and pioneering work.

E-mail Dr. Ellen Beck

UCSD Free Clinic Webpage

Tahir Bhatti, MD

Dr. Bhatti is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and has been a clinical faculty member at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine since 1997. Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, he did his undergraduate work at Brown University, completed his medical training at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, his psychiatry residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago and his Chief Residency at the UCSD School of Medicine.

After his residency, Dr. Bhatti completed three years of work in a Clinical Research Fellowship at the UCSD VA Medical Center where he conducted studies on mood disorders, sleep, dreams and alternative/complementary treatments. An author of numerous research articles, Dr. Bhatti has presented the results of his work at meetings worldwide. During his fellowship he was awarded one of the first Fellowships To Explore Alternative Therapies In The UCSD School of Medicine. Working with the UCSD Departments of Orthopedics and Psychiatry, he studied the effect of t’ai chi chih in patients with chronic low back pain. He presented his findings at the 3rd Annual Alternative Therapies Symposium and Exposition in 1998.

Dr. Bhatti works with children and adults utilizing an integrated approach to their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. He integrates his traditional training as a psychiatrist with many non-Western healing modalities, including chi kung, t’ai chi, breath work, energy healing and Human Design. Dr. Bhatti became a t’ai chi and meditation practitioner in 1991 after a personal health crisis. He has been on a growth and healing path ever since. He became a certified t’ai chi chih teacher in 1995 and continues to teach classes today. One of his more recent classes was taught to inmates at the Richard Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. He has also been a lifelong musician and considers the most important event in his life is to have been gifted with the opportunity to be a father to his beautiful daughter.

E-mail Dr. Tahir Bhatti

Robert Bonakdar, MD

Dr. Bonakdar is Director of Pain Management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Bonakdar completed his undergraduate degree in psychobiology at Occidental College, his medical training at the University of Nevada School of Medicine with a residency in family practice at Grossmont Hospital. He has additional training in complementary medicine having completed the UCLA Acupuncture Course for Physicians and performed a Richter Fellowship in Southeast Asia where he studied acupuncture, Tai Chi/Qi Gong, and Eastern spirituality. He is active in combining modalities such as acupuncture, herbal medicine and stress reduction with conventional allopathic care with a clinical focus on the treatment of pain and related disorders. His research in complementary and alternative medicine including herbal medicine has been awarded two national research awards and was highlighted in The British Medical Journal and Family Medicine. Dr. Bonakdar is a board certified Diplomate of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a founding diplomate of the American Holistic Medical Association, a member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and has served on the Board of Directors of the California Academy of Family Physicians. He is currently a member of the Scripps Green Hospital Committee on Pain Management.

E-mail Dr. Robert Bonakdar

The Scripps' Center for Integrative Medicine Webpage

Daniel Bressler, MD

Born & Raised in California
College: Stanford University, majored in biology and philosophy
Medical School: Harvard
Was head of the “Medicine & Society” Student Group
Residency in Internal Medicine: Beth Israel Hospital, Boston

Current Activities:
Private Practice of Internal Medicine
Associate Clinical Professor @ UCSD SOM
Facilitator of Yearly Course called “A Survey of CAM" for 1st and
2nd year med students
Chairperson Biomedical Ethics Committee, Scripps Mercy Hospital
Special Interests: Humanistic Medicine; Poetry and Medicine;
Sociology of Complementary & Alternative Medicine

E-mail Dr. Daniel Bressler

Pauline DeLozier, PhD

Dr. DeLozier is a clinical psychologist and marriage & family therapist with 25 years of clinical experience. Her adult, child and adolescent practice has included work in medical offices, schools and hospitals. She is currently in private practice in Carlsbad, California.

Dr. DeLozier holds a doctorate in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles; is a summa cum laude graduate of California State University; and is the recipient of numerous academic and professional honors. She has 30 years of experience and training in spiritual and alternative healing, including multiple holistic approaches to mental health.

Her experience and training in spiritual and integrated healing practices followed her own near-death experience. Since then, she has become a researcher, international speaker, author and consultant on attachment and loss, abuse recovery, near-death studies, spirituality, cross-cultural diversity & religions, native healing, forms of energy healing, holistic health, metaphysics and transpersonal psychology. She also has a strong interest in professional ethics.

Dr. DeLozier's work has taken her to Europe, Russia, Canada and China. Also a leader in the development of attachment research, she has worked closely with Dr. John Bowlby, the originator of attachment theory. Her background also includes 14 years of management experience as Chief of Staff and Regional Department Head for major healthcare corporations. She has recently joinedvthe faculty at UCSD Medical School and is a current faculty advisor for the school’s Holistic and Integrative Medicine Action Group.

E-mail Dr. Pauline DeLozier

Steve Hickman, Psy.D.

Steven D. Hickman, Psy.D. is a Staff Psychologist and faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry, working within the Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Service. Dr. Hickman’s primary clinical focus of is in the field of behavioral medicine, specifically assessing and treating patients with chronic pain and illness. His varied roles in the department include individual outpatient psychotherapy, hospital and emergency room consultation and liaison, psychodiagnostic assessment, supervision of psychology interns and teaching. He is a graduate and an adjunct faculty member of the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego.

Dr. Hickman’s primary clinical and research interest is the practice of mindfulness and especially Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is the founder and director of the recently established UCSD Center for Mindfulness, has completed extensive training in MBSR and leads ongoing 8-week courses, including a variety of medical and psychiatric patients, as well as non-patients. Dr. Hickman received a UCSD School of Medicine Fellowship to Explore Complementary Therapies, to conduct research into the processes and mechanisms of change in MBSR and hopes to expand upon this topic in future research collaboration with individuals in other disciplines.

Of particular interest to Dr. Hickman is the application and integration of mindfulness into psychotherapy and the growing movement in the field of clinical psychology to include aspects of mindfulness in a variety of interventions for a whole host of psychological conditions. He is also a co-creator of MindfulNet, a new international professional organization of teachers of mindfulness-based interventions.

E-mail Dr. Steve Hickman

Warren Jacobs, MD

I attended medical school in Switzerland and in Canada. After some eight years in family practice in Escondido , I became aware that the education I received, although of high quality and very effective in acute illness, was sorely lacking in scope when dealing with chronic problems.

After searching through some blind alleys, by chance I met John Thie, chiropractor and through him and Touch For Health became aware of a completely different way of looking at health and illness. I spent the next eight years studying and then slowly introduced these concepts into family practice when this seemed appropriate and the patient was open. I am now an instructor in Touch For Health and serve on the Board of Directors of the Touch For Health Foundation along with John Thie and Sheldon Deal. My work is focused on the connection of the meridians with emotions and I have developed a system to use this in a clinical setting.

For the past three years I have volunteered at UCSD Medical School in the course Doctor/Patient relationship with much satisfaction being part of the process of expanding the scope of the doctors of the future. Currently I practice Integrative Medicine as a solo practitioner in Escondido, and I look forward to further contact with HI-Med and all who would expand awareness of better ways to health.

E-mail Dr. Warren Jacobs

Jamie Jones, MD

Early in Dr. Jones' clinical career he was working at the interface of HIV-infection and premature babies. Medical science of the time was unable to provide much headway into addressing the clinical realities in this arena of healthcare, and he began delving into an expanded model of healthcare focused on healing and the spiritual dimensions of physician-ship. Jamie has worked extensively in the holistic medical arena, and is a pioneer in bringing integrative medical care to San Diego partly through writing the original proposal bringing an integrative medicine program to Children's Hospital. He has led workshops on holism and the spiritual dimensions of healthcare at Esalen and lectures at the Chopra Center as well as elsewhere throughout the country and world. He has also co-authored a forthcoming book titled "Enlightened Healer, Enlightened Healthcare."

E-mail Dr. Jamie Jones

Betty Joan Maly, MD

Betty Joan Maly, MD, attending physiatrist for Owen Clinic, is a voluntary clinical faculty member in the Department of Medicine at UCSD, and attending staff at Sharp Memorial Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. A Diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, she frequently serves as an examiner for board certification in her specialty. Three years ago, Dr. Maly began exploring healing relationships in medical practice and has nurtured her inquiry in formal study at the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (ISHI), the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, and the Harvard course: Complementary & Integrative Medicine - state of the science & clinical applications. She is a founding member of Finding Meaning in Medicine physician, resident, and patient groups, and serves on rehab advisory, oncology, and complementary/ integrative medicine hospital committees at Sharp. Dr. Maly, along with Dr. Cederquist, is piloting ISHI's course, The Healer's Art, at UCSD SOM this spring.

E-mail Dr. Betty Joan Maly

Terri Polley-Michae, MA, RN, HHP

Teri started her healing career over 27 years ago as a Registered
Nurse in the Emergency department at a major trauma center and
continues to work at UCSD Thornton Emergency department on a per diem
basis. Teri has her advanced certification in Emergency Nursing.

Teri is certified as a Holistic Health Practitioner in San Diego
County and is a Licensed Massage Therapist. She graduated with her
Masters degree in Somatic Studies in December 2001 from the
International Professional School of Bodyworks and Humanities College.
In 2002 Teri received a grant form the Complementary Medicine
Committee at University of California Medcial School at San Diego to
fund research using massage therapy as an adjunct in the care of the patient with cancer to promote relaxation, decrease physical and psychological pain and to improve overall sense of well-being. Since working with cancer patients on this project Teri has developed and taught a class titled “Massage for People with Cancer”. She also teaches “The Hospice Experience”, and supervises massage therapy students at San Diego Hospice, where they provide massage therapy to patients, family, caregivers, and staff.

Teri is a member of the National Association of Nurse Massage
Therapists and the San Diego chapter of the American Holistic Nurses Association. She has completed Level II B in Healing Touch, an energy based healing modality taught by the American Holistic Nurses Association.

E-mail Dr. Betty Joan Maly

Andres Sciolla, MD

Biography
Dr. Andrés Sciolla obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Chile in 1983, and finished his postgraduate training in psychiatry in 1989. He came to UCSD in 1991, and worked at the Human Circadian Pacemaker Laboratory, the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, and the Geriatric Psychiatry Clinical Research Center until 1997. Dr. Sciolla conducted studies and published in the areas of HIV-associated dyssomnia, psychiatric morbidity among populations at risk for HIV, and health-related quality of life among older patients with psychosis. Subsequently he completed his psychiatry residency, and joined UCSD’s faculty upon graduation in 2001.

Research Focus
Dr. Sciolla’s career currently focuses in research, teaching, and assessment of competence in patient-physician communication, psychotherapeutic skills, and the integration of biomedical and humanistic aspects of medicine and psychiatry. He is particularly interested in how research findings in cognitive and affective neuroscience can inform the teaching and practice of such clinical skills. Together with faculty at the School of Medicine and the Department of Family Medicine he is studying the effect of educational interventions among medical students with substandard communication skills, and physicians with difficulties managing professional boundaries.

Clinical Focus
Dr. Sciolla cares for ambulatory patients at the Outpatient Psychiatric Services and the Maria Sardinas Center in San Ysidro. His practice is influenced by the paradigm of patient-centered medicine and dynamic psychiatry. Most of his patients are seen under the managed-care system of medication visits of 15-20 minutes. During these type of visits Dr. Sciolla strives to integrate the biomedical model, cutting-edge psychopharmacology, cultural sensitivity, and psychodynamic techniques to elucidate unconscious meaning of medication, symptoms, and the therapeutic relationship. He has been conducting psychodynamic psychotherapy with a handful of patients for the past three years under the supervision of Dr. Davis Suskind.

E-mail Dr. Andres Sciolla

Dan Vicario, MD

As a medical oncologist since 1989, Dr. Vicario has found ways of
Integrating different healing techniques and arts in helping people who have the challenge of cancer. He has always been interested in the Power of the Human Spirit, and has seen many patients do well despite all odds. What makes some people do significantly better than expected? What makes some people enjoy the best that life has to offer, even in the most difficult and challenging circumstances? He has learned much from these amazing people,
and realizing that every person is different, it is extremely important to customize therapy for each person. Customize the medicines we give, the way we approach people, the words we use and how can we best help each patient tap into their powerful inner healing strength. In his cancer center in North San Diego County, he works with an outstanding team of professionals. This team collaborates in harmony to deliver an "Optimal Healing Environment" for the patients that are treated there. "We are continuously learning how to better help people, and how to maintain a nurturing and healing environment for them."

E-mail Dr. Dan Vicario

Liana Beckett, MA, MFT

Liana R. Beckett, MS, LMFT is a staff psychotherapist and clinical
supervisor at UCSD Outpatient Psychiatric Services, adjunct faculty in the UCSD Dept. of Psychiatry, and Clinical Co-Coordinator of the UCSD Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Program. Her professional focus is on the interplay and roles of nutrition, the mind, the self of the therapist, and of energy/vibrational medicine in mental healing. In collaboration with D.Shannahoff-Khalsa, she launched a pioneering pilot study that validated the effectiveness of yogic breath techniques in the treatment of OCD (International Journal of Neuroscience, 85, 1-17, 1996).

Ms. Beckett also has a keen interest in all things transpersonal and Jungian, in the work of intuitive healer Carolyn Myss, and in the integrative psychology of Ken Wilber. In addition to holding Masters’ Degrees in Education and in Marriage and Family Therapy, Ms.Beckett has formal training in Ericksonian hypnosis, Guided Imagery, Thought Field Therapy, and Reiki Levels I and II. She follows the teachings and practices of Siddha Yoga, having received shaktipat initiation (awakening of the dormant kundalini energy) from her Teacher, Sw. Chidvilasananda — Gurumayi — nearly two decades ago.

E-mail Liana Beckett

J. Adam Milgram, MA

My interest is in what I call the psychospiritual dimensions of living and of aging in particular as that is my present focus - to facilitate love, harmony and beauty in one's life and for all humanity. In that regard my lectures and writings are intended to inspire and awaken others to the miracle of life and the power, wisdom and beauty inherent in each of us. To awaken, so that we may manifest our divine attributes in every aspects of our lives, in particular our health and well-being - to "make God a reality" (make one's highest ideals a reality) as my teacher Hazrat Inayat Kahn states.

E-mail Adam Milgram

David Shannahoff-Khalsa

David Shannahoff-Khalsa formed The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics in 1994 at UCSD's Institute for Nonlinear Science. Prior to coming to UCSD he spent 23 years at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, first working on the building blocks of the genetic code, and then pioneering novel studies in the neurosciences based on yogic concepts and meditation techniques. The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics is pioneering novel clinical approaches for treating psychiatric, sleep, cardiovascular, and digestive disorders; devising new methods for doing high resolution spatial-temporal analysis of whole-brain imaging of the effects of yogic meditation techniques using state-of-the-art instrumentation and discovering new insights to mind-body rhythms and physiological states during sleep and waking. David is also pioneering novel breakthroughs for obsessive compulsive disorder, the 4th most common psychiatric disorder, with colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD; employing Kundalini Yoga meditation for attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia and for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. His primary research interests are testing the efficacy of disorder-specific Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques for treating OCD, ADHD, PTSD, addictive disorders, stimulating the immune system, and for cardiac health and rehabilitation.

David has been practicing and teaching Kundalini Yoga (as taught by Yogi Bhajan) since 1974. He currently teaches a Kundalini Yoga class in the Recreation department at UCSD. In addition, he has been studying/practicing the distant healing modality called Sat Nam Rasayan as now taught by Guru Dev Singh, and originally taught by Yogi Bhajan.

E-mail David Shannahoff-Khalsa

David Shannahoff-Khalsa's Webpage

Administrative Support

Sherryl Parks

I have worked for the Tutorial Program for almost 20 years. I came to the program with teaching experience in the State of Washington as well as The Bishop's School in La Jolla. Approximately 10 years ago I returned to UCSD Extension to take a series of courses that credentialed me in personal counseling. I saw the need to introduce stress management, as I worked on a daily basis with medical students and I designed the curriculum and implemented the program in the Summer of 1994 for incoming medical students. I also started the Partner's Support Group for the wives and girlfriends of our medical students offering information and social events when their schedules are particularly busy. My personal lifestyle includes daily meditation having trained through UCSD's Dept of Pshyciatry based on Jon Kabat-Zinn's methods begun at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

E-mail Sherryl Parks

Student Leadership:

David Wu, Class of 2007

2003-4 Co-Chair

E-mail David

Rael Cahn, 5th Year MD/PhD student

2003-4 Co-Chair

I am currently pursuing my PhD in neurosciences with the UCSD Department of neurosciences, working with Dr. John Polich at The Scripps Research Institute on neurophysiological studies of meditation. My broad research and clinical interests center on stimulating the mind-body connection to promote healing and work at the interface of science and biomedicine with spirit. I believe that the future of humanity depends on a deepened dialog and discovery of common interface between science and spirit as we seek to uncover the nature of our essentially interconnected selves.

I helped start HI-Med in 2001 - the group intention has been to support and catalyze the transformation of the culture of medicine towards a medical and healthcare system that supports modern society in striving for full health and wellness in mind, body, and spirit -- a system wherein love and caring play more of a central role in clinical interaction, and one that encourages an approach to wellness for the public with a focus on holism, preventive medicine, and inner peace.

E-mail Rael

Rael Cahn's Web Page

Jennifer Aron, 2nd Year MD/PhD student