The Healing Through Story conference is proudly hosting many exciting presenters in Minneapolis next February. Lewis Mehl-Madrona will be among them. Author of three books, Coyote Medicine, Coyote Healing, and the soon to be released Coyote Wisdom (February 2005), Mehl-Madrona richly articulates the experiences and accrued wisdom of his journey as both traditional and alternative healer. Before immersing yourself in his presence next February at the conference, you might want to give yourself the gift of spending some time first with him through his writing.

As the youngest peacetime graduate of Stanford Medical School at the age of 21, Mehl-Madrona embarked on the tumultuous path of intertwining his practice of traditional medicine with the healing powers of the spirit. Half Cherokee, Mehl-Madrona witnessed his grandmother's healing ceremonies and stories as a child, and these deeply and positively inspired him . As a young adult and medical practitioner, Mehl-Madrona was equally and negatively affected through his confrontation with the negligent, callus and often arrogant practices embedded in orthodox medicine. His personal and professional journey is one of reconciliation as he threads his way through his identities as both Native American and westerner, as medical doctor and shaman, as healer and curer.

At the heart of Mehl-Madrona's healing work is the power of story. In his first book, Coyote Medicine, Mehl-Madrona describes his early attempts at bringing something more than the traditional tools of western medicine to a patient's bedside. His initial success at guiding an ill patient to hold his disease differently through the telling of a traditional tale seemed to surprise the physician as well as the client. He attributed its positive outcome to the power of integrating a spiritual element into the physical healing journey. From his book Coyote Medicine, Mehl-Madrona relates:

Stories can function as a kind of hypnosis. They help prepare people's minds to accept healing. I was happy to discover that storytelling hypnosis can be used in hospitals without raising any eyebrows. It's close enough to the familiar technique of visualization to pass unnoticed. When I introduced it carefully, few doctors paid any attention, and fewer patients found what I

Lewis Mehl-Madrona

was doing strange. For most patients, the only strange thing was that I was sitting with them long enough to tell a story. (p. 100)

In Coyote Healing, Mehl-Madrona progresses from being a young initiate experimenting with alternative paths towards healing into an experienced practitioner with a conviction of leading patients through a transformation of lifestyle, emotions and spirit in order to heal the physical body. Through 100 stories of people engaged in healing journeys, Mehl-Madrona distills the elements inherent in healing that have been known and practiced by Native American healers for years. The essence of the journey involves re-discovering or re-interpreting one's personal meaning and purpose. Mehl-Madrona guides his patients through this process with story.

Our stories reveal our personal myths, the beliefs and values that guide our lives. Healing interactions change these beliefs and values. Therefore, the stories change. The deeper personal myth and meaning is transformed. Then curing sometimes happens. (Coyote Healing, p. 212)

Certified in family practice, geriatrics and psychiatry, Mehl-Madrona now works with the Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science at the University of Arizona. His third book, Coyote Wisdom, to be released in February 2005, promises to provide an in-depth look at the therapeutic and transformative powers of storytelling in the healing process. Exploring how we create and re-create ourselves through the stories we tell, Mehl-Madrona draws from the Native American culture as well as other traditional cultures including the Maori, East African, Mongolians, Aborigines and Laplanders. Exploring the archetypal characters and situations that make up people's defining stories, Mehl-Madrona uncovers the powerful sources of meaning that can shape and transform one's life and lead to healing.

We have much to look forward to in February in Minneapolis, but we don't have to wait until then to immerse ourselves in the powerful wisdom and experience of Lewis Mehl-Madrona.

Lani Peterson, Psy.D., is a member of the Healing Story Alliance Executive Committee. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts where she works as a storyteller, public speaker and coach.