Natural Health Centers:
Treating Mind, Body, and Spirit
Darlene Paris
Conscious Choice, October 1999
A Non-clinical Environment
The size of these centers varies. Some, like the recently opened Beyond Wellness Therapeutic Massage & Healing Center in Tinley Park, are small operations. Others, like American Whole Health, have several doctors and practitioners in various locales in and surrounding Chicago.
Beyond Wellness Therapeutic Massage & Healing Center, owned by certified massage therapist and Reiki master, Don Massat, has three certified massage therapists on staff, including Massat, and other holistic practitioners who work on a part-time basis. Massat says that his center may be smaller than most natural healthcare clinics in Chicago, but the work done here is just as serious.
"I work on quite a few doctors," says Massat who also teaches massage at the Wellness and Massage Training Institute in Woodridge. "Some of them are very receptive to the work that I do. Some of them weren't receptive when they first walked in, but after a few massage sessions they've changed."
Dr. Jose Abreu, 62, is one such patient. When his wife recommended he see a massage therapist and reiki master for neck pain that had travelled to his arms and shoulders, Abreu, an anesthesiologist at a south suburban hospital, was skeptical. "I had never heard about him or the type of medicine he practices. It was something unfamiliar to me," he says.
Abreu agreed to visit the center because he began experiencing numbness in his fingers. He also wasn't having success with physical therapy, and the medication that he was taking was a bit harsh on his system. In an effort to solve his impending health challenges, Abreu met with a neurosurgeon hoping to discuss the possibility of surgery, but he really didn't want to go under the knife.
He admits that visiting the natural health care center was a last resort. "When you are suffering excruciating pain, you are willing to try anything that gives you hope for improvement," he says.
After his first session, he noticed massage therapy was gentler on his body than physical therapy. He also realized that his body had stopped aching. Abreu says that he saw definite improvements after the third massage session and decided to see the massage therapist twice a week instead of having surgery. "Don uses massage and cranial sacral therapy on me and it works. I'm delighted I found out about this place because it has saved my life," he says.
Darlene E. Paris is the author of Healthy and Natural Living in Chicago: The Best Alternative
Resources in the City and Suburbs (Chicago Review Press).The book is available at bookstores or by calling 800-888-4741.
Resources:
Dr. David Edelberg, M.D. American WholeHealth, Lincoln Park Center, 990 W. Fullerton Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60614; 773-296-6700
Dr. David Zeiger, D.O. American WholeHealth, Michigan Avenue Center, 150 E. Huron, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60611; 312-266-8565
Don Massat, M.T. Beyond Wellness Therapeutic Massage & Healing Center, 16345 S. Harlem, Suite 2 South, Tinley Park, IL 60477; 708-614-6860
Dr. Jerry Gore, M.D. Center for Holistic Medicine, 240 Saunders Road, Riverwoods, IL 60015; 847-236-1701
Dr. Connie Catellani, M.D. The Miro Center for Integrative Medicine, 1639 Orrington Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201; 847-733-9900
Dr. Richard Sandore, M.D. Waveland Wellness Center, 1346 W. Waveland, Chicago, IL 60613; 773-935-5050
Tim Schurr The Association of Wholistic Medicine, 877-944-4673 The Balancing Center 1871 N. Clybourn, Chicago, IL 60614; 773-327-3333
Chandler's Health Emporium 8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 820, Chicago, IL 60603; 312-782-2285
SoderWorld Holistic Health & Wellness Center 10 S. 410 Route 83, Suite 2, Hinsdale, IL 60521; 630-455-5885
Nancy Floy and Andrea Gunderson The Healing Center, 1599 Maple, Evanston, 60201; 847-491-1122.