• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Storied Mind

Recover Life from Depression

  • Home
  • About
    • Commenting Guidelines
  • START HERE
    • Archives
  • Self-Help
    • Recovery Stories
You are here: Home / Healing / The Healing Stories of Rachel Naomi Remen

The Healing Stories of Rachel Naomi Remen

by John Folk-Williams 9 Comments

I keep coming back to the stories of Rachel Naomi Remen, and this video of one of her lectures reminds me what I value in her work. While advocates of the new medicine have been revolutionizing the paradigm of medical practice, Remen is one of those physicians who has changed many lives by applying these ideas in her unique way. She tells stories.

She is a physician, teacher, story-teller and therapist all in one. For her, stories about moments of recognition capture a reality and truth that can help people reconnect with their own healing power. The first story she tells is her own – how she learned to live a fulfilling life despite a chronic, incurable illness.

Healing through New Awareness

She has lived most of her life with crohn’s disease. To survive an illness that normally cuts off life at an early age, she had to overcome many obstacles.

There was the depression that followed her diagnosis when she was 15. There was the expectation of a limiting life that doctors said would end before the age of 40. There were both the pain of eight major surgeries and the need to wear an awkward device for as long as she lived.

Instead of focusing on that bleak future, she found a way to see the wholeness of her life rather than the diseased body that her doctors saw.

It was, in part, the power of stories that helped her change her view of herself. As she puts it in a recent interview, a good story is like a compass that can “bring us home to ourselves.”

I think of her approach as a way of cultivating mindfulness through story rather than meditation. Her stories have a similar quality of helping shift attention away from daily worries to an inner awareness and acceptance of life in each moment.

Two Stories

Here are two stories about learning to heal by changing the way you look at life. The first, from her best-selling book, My Grandfather’s Blessings, describes an insight she learned at an early age. The second, from this video, concerns a moment of life-changing recognition in the worklife of a doctor.

  • Her grandfather was a lifelong student of Jewish mystic traditions. When she was a girl, he told her that at the beginning of things the Holy was broken into sparks and scattered through the universe.

    Those sparks are in everything and everyone, “a sort of diaspora of goodness.” We can learn to see them in ourselves and others. When we spot one, as she puts it, we blow on it and strengthen it.

    She has chosen to work with terminally ill cancer patients because they have become vulnerable and look more intently at themselves. They tend to rethink the values they’ve lived by without much thought. As they try to heal in soul if not in body, they are better able to see those inner sparks and find a larger sense of meaning in their lives.

  • In the lecture recorded in the video, she tells the story of an emergency room doctor, under constant stress but proud of his mastery of medical skills. One day, he delivered a baby in the ER. It was a procedure he liked to perform for the satisfaction he took in doing it well. After the birth, he was holding the baby on his arm to suction its lungs when she opened her eyes and looked right into his.

    He felt deeply changed in that moment as he realized he was the first human being she was seeing in her life. This man, usually focused entirely on the technical process, felt his heart go out to her. He described this as a holy moment when all his cynicism and fatigue fell away. He felt not pride or satisfaction in his work but a sense of gratitude that he had been there at that moment. It gave him a new sense of purpose in what he did.

As a long-time reformer of the current medical system, she teaches medical students and practicing doctors a course called The Healers’ Art. She describes in the video a simple technique she assigns her students to help them change the way they view their daily lives. I think it’s also a good method to help change a depressive’s view of the world.

A Method to Change Awareness

At the end of each day, her students write down everything that has happened to them, going backwards in time from the last moment at work to the first. Then they reflect back over the events three times, each time asking a different question.

What surprised me today? What touched my heart today? What inspired me today? They review each moment not from the perspective of a doctor but more like that of a novelist or journalist – looking for the stories.

Although her students begin the practice after the day is over, they gradually learn to look for the surprises and inspiring moments as they are treating patients during the day. It becomes a habit.

She tells the story of one doctor who used this method for some time. After a while, he realized that he was speaking and listening to people differently, in much more human, less technical ways. He came to feel a deep sense of connection with his patients and their families, and he also found that they began treating him differently as well.

A major goal of her work as a teacher is to help doctors understand through their experience how important their words and actions are to their patients. By teaching them to find their own stories, she helps them learn to trust the power of their “personal presence and generous listening to heal.”

I think these stories of insight can have the same healing effect on all of us.

What do you think?

Related Posts

  • Images of the Healing Garden

    June Garden Early Morning © All rights reserved by Wild Rubies at Flickr The gardens…

  • The Labor and Life of Gardening

    My wife keeps expanding and adding variety to the gardens at our house. For her,…

  • New Series of Personal Stories at Recover Life from Depression

    You shouldn’t miss this first in a series of personal stories at Recover Life from…

Filed Under: Healing Tagged With: life, loneliness, love, medicine, story

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa Douglas says

    February 9, 2012 at 7:36 am

    Thank you for sharing your ever so inspiring stories. I feel honored to have had the ability to listen and learn from all you imparted. You are correct that “there is a web of connections that can only be seen through the heart.”

    Reply
    • John Folk-Williams says

      February 14, 2012 at 9:23 pm

      Thank you, Lisa –

      Remen’s stories are a continuing inspiration. I learn from them through feelings as well as through the surface meaning of the words. That’s one of her great gifts as a healer.

      John

      Reply
  2. Janet Singer says

    February 5, 2012 at 4:56 pm

    I have read Dr. Remen’s books and have just watched the video…….I could listen to her forever. Her simple message that we all matter to each other is very powerful. Thank you for sharing this (and I may link to you from my blog if you don’t mind!)

    Reply
    • John Folk-Williams says

      February 9, 2012 at 9:45 pm

      Hi, Janet –

      I could listen to her forever too – though sometimes I’m exhausted by the emotional depth of my responses to her stories and need a break.

      I’d be honored to have you link back here. Never a need to ask. I will include your site in the resources section here as soon as I have a chance to revise that section.

      Thank you — John

      Reply
  3. Wendy Love says

    February 5, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Thanks for sharing this inspiring video. I was inspired to remember some of my own stories and attempt to put them together for better blog posts. I was inspired to remember and record some family stories for future reference. I was inspired to take one of my bad days and make a story out of it and somehow bring ‘meaning’ to a bad day. I loved what she said about how stories help us find deeper meaning. I loved what she said about stories having more power than data. Thanks so much.

    Reply
    • John Folk-Williams says

      February 9, 2012 at 9:42 pm

      Hi, Wendy –

      She’s had the same effect on me, sending me back into stories of mine that I haven’t thought about in years. Her example has helped me probe more deeply into whatever I live through.

      I look forward to reading some of those blog posts.

      John

      Reply
  4. Evan says

    February 5, 2012 at 1:09 am

    Yes, I do think that it is making sense of our experience that brings change.

    It is wonderful to hear of someone doing this in medicine.

    Reply
    • John Folk-Williams says

      February 5, 2012 at 9:54 am

      Hi, Evan –

      Her account in the lecture of the dramatic changes in doctors who take her course is remarkable. A simple meditation brings tears to the eyes of all the students as they realize what they have left out of their practice – all the human dimensions. It’s worth the hour to watch the video.

      John

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Stories of Our Lives « ocdtalk says:
    February 7, 2012 at 5:11 am

    […] recently watched this hour-long video posted by John Folk-Williams, who writes the Storied Mind blog. The speaker is Dr. Rachel Naomi […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sign Up for Email Delivery

Get updates and blog posts by email.

Surviving Depression Together Now Available at Major Retailers

Surviving Depression Together


Surviving Depression Together

"John, this is a ... much needed resource. Thanks for writing it!"

- Therese Borchard, author of Beyond Blue


Learn More...

A Mind for Life Ebook Now Available at Major Retailers

A Mind for Life: From Depression to Living Well

A Mind for Life Ebook

The inner work of getting your life back from depression. This ebook is now available in most common ebook formats at major retailers.

LEARN MORE

Living Depressed

Depression affects emotions, mental abilities, self-concept, behavior, relationships and the entire body. These core posts describe the full range of symptoms affecting daily life. Read More.

Choices in Healing

Hoping for recovery gives you a motive but not a method for getting there. This section has posts about therapies and healing methods you can work with either on your own or with professional guidance. Read more.

Living Well

If you've learned how to manage your depression, you'll want a fulfilling life rather than one dominated by fear that the illness might return. In this section, you'll find posts about how to work toward that goal. Read More

Relationships in Crisis

One of the hardest challenges of living with depression is holding onto your closest relationships. This section features posts on how to help a relationship survive. Read More.

Recent Posts

  • Storied Mind Ebooks Ready to Go!
  • Notebook: Healing the Whole Person
  • Why Writing Helps Heal Depression – 2
  • Why Writing Can Help Heal Depression – 1
  • Re-Reading the Story of Depression’s Meaning

Search Storied Mind

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Linda on Helen: A Great Film on Depression
  • Anonymous on 10 Ways to Help Yourself When Your Partner Is Depressed
  • Karthika on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Adam on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Karthika on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Adam on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Anonymous on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?
  • Karthika on How Can You Communicate After Your Depressed Partner Leaves?

Privacy and Cookie Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

Terms of Use

DISCLAIMER: None of the content on this site should be interpreted as medical or therapeutic advice about the treatment of depression or any mental illness. If you feel you need help, you should seek treatment from qualified professionals.

AFFILIATES: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in