"It's not 'All In Your Head' "
Multi-Modal Healing with Judy Tsafrir

Sunday, January 21, 2024, 4 p.m. Eastern Time

When a patient consults a physician and reports symptoms that refer to multiple unrelated organ systems which do not fit with known patterns or conditions, and when the laboratory tests that are conventionally run do not reveal any abnormalities, the conclusion is reached that they should see a psychiatrist. They are told that they are suffering from stress; that they are depressed or anxious. The implication is that their condition is psychosomatic; meaning that their emotions are manifesting as physical symptoms. This is a very invalidating experience that adds insult to injury.

These patients are in fact often quite depressed and anxious because the inflammation that is affecting their entire body is also affecting their brain, and importantly, because living with disabling symptoms for which they cannot get any help creates feelings of desperation.

In my clinical practice, patients with this presentation are frequently suffering from Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), the most common cause of which is environmental from mold toxins. Many of these patients also suffer from the connective tissue disorder, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). This talk will be a discussion of the multi-modal holistic approach that I take in my practice to the treatment of these three conditions (MCAS, Mold Toxicity, EDS) which so often manifest with depression, anxiety, insomnia, inattention, and brain fog and thus commonly result in referral to a psychiatrist.

Bio: Judy Suzanne Reis Tsafrir, MD, is a holistic healer, activist, artist, and gardener with a private practice of holistic psychiatry and psychoanalysis located in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a board-certified adult and child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and teaches and supervises at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She has particular interest in combining spiritual and developmental approaches to healing, ketamine assisted psychotherapy, helping patients wean from psychiatric medications, and treating complex chronic medical conditions that present psychiatrically, including mold toxicity, mast cell activation, and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She is a practitioner of a variety of energy healing and esoteric modalities, including Astrology, Tarot, Shamanism, BodyIntuitive, and Reiki. Her practice is dedicated to healing through the integration of heart, mind, body, soul, the biosphere, and the cosmos. Her new book, Sacred Psychiatry: Bridging the Personal and Transpersonal to Transform Health and Consciousness was just published by Greenleaf Book Group earlier this month. The book is about a holistic approach to cultivating resilience and courage during these transformative times on our planet.

 

Materials from the presentation:

• Slides from the presentation
• Full recording (This version contains chapter headings for easier viewing)
• Review of Judy's book, Sacred Psychiatry: Bridging the Personal and Transpersonal to Transform Health and Consciousness
• Judy’s author page: https://judytsafrirmdauthor.com
• Four books that Judy recommends:
  • Arrien, Angeles. (1993). The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary, Harper One.
  • Blank, Martin. (2015). Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do About It, Seven Stories Press.
  • Nathan, Neil. (2018). Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Chronic Environmental Illness, Victory Belt Publishing.
  • Tsafrir, Judy. (2024). Sacred Psychiatry: Bridging the Personal and Transpersonal to Transform Health and Consciousness, Greenleaf BookGroup.