Spiritual Healing and Psychotherapy

by Daniel J. Benor, MD

Spiritual healers have been known for bringing about unusual cures throughout recorded history. Until recently, modern medicine has viewed such reports with great scepticism. They are often attributed to placebo reactions, spontaneous remissions of symptoms of ordinary illnesses, remissions of 'hysterical' symptoms, or even to naive exaggerations or deliberate charlatanism.

Becca's Note: This is an article from the UK. There are a couple of abbreviations in it that I didn't know the meanings of, so I looked them up: "NHS" stands for National Health Service. "ME" is myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Could spiritual healing actually work?
By Dr DANNY PENMAN
Last updated at 14:42 03 October 2006

Healer Ruth Kaye is employed by the NHS
Once dismissed as hokum, new evidence is forcing doctors to accept the power of spiritual healing. Click here to see why the laying on of hands may not be quackery after all:

Man Is Rescued by Stranger on Subway Tracks

By CARA BUCKLEY
Published: January 3, 2007
It was every subway rider’s nightmare, times two.

Who has ridden along New York’s 656 miles of subway lines and not wondered: “What if I fell to the tracks as a train came in? What would I do?”

And who has not thought: “What if someone else fell? Would I jump to the rescue?”

Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran, faced both those questions in a flashing instant yesterday, and got his answers almost as quickly.

Little Boy Hero Seven-Year-Old Boy Walks in Snow to Save Mother’s Life

G R E E L E Y, Colo., Nov. 30 — Authorities say the quick decisions made by a 7-year-old boy saved the life of his mother when the family got into an accident driving home from Thanksgiving dinner.

Titus Adams and his sisters, Tiffany, 4, and Tierra, 1, were riding in their mom's pickup, snug and warm in their pajamas.

Less than a mile from home, his mother's car veered off the road and rolled five times. She was thrown from the car and was unconscious.

San Jose teacher saved by his 11-year-old student

Wood shop teacher Fred Sotcher felt a powerful chill and started to tremble, but he threw on a heavier shirt and assured his sixth-graders he was fine. Daniel Rivas didn't believe it.

The 11-year-old boy rushed to a phone and called the front office to report his teacher needed help.

5 'hero moms' honored for fighting Lakewood school fire
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- In the Snohomish County town of Lakewood they're known as the "hero moms."

Five mothers who helped put out a fire at Lakewood Elementary School were honored with praise and plaques at a ceremony Wednesday night with school officials and firefighters at Lakewood High School.

The women were watching their sons' football practice July 23 when they saw a fire at nearby Lakewood Elementary. They broke windows to reach fire extinguishers and held back the flames until firefighters arrived.