Would you consider communication a key factor in the healing process? According to our guest, words matter, and language can reach beyond the conscious mind to activate the body’s healing response. Emergency medicine physician, Dr. Steve Bierman joins Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Victoria Maizes to discuss how language, and the power of suggestion can serve as positive or negative influences on our health. Dr. Bierman challenges caregivers to choose words wisely and harness the power of communication when treating patients. Using examples from his practice, Bierman demonstrates how carefully chosen language can ease pain and yield lasting health outcomes. His approach blends humanism, hypnosis, and neurolinguistics with conventional medicine. In this conversation, Drs. Weil, Maizes, and Bierman discuss hypnosis, the placebo effect, proper informed consent, patients’ belief systems, and why communication should be taught in medical schools.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related