For 19 years, occupational therapist Rick Frank had used conventional methods to help patients recover from disease and injury. In his spare time, Frank practiced yoga to keep his own body healthy and his mind relaxed. The therapist didn?t think to put the two practices together until he was asked to lead an exercise group at the psychiatric inpatient unit at Faulkner Hospital. He taught some of the postures and breathing exercises he had been learning and found the results eye opening.

The most striking thing people said to me was the voices stopped,Frank recalls. They also said things like, I feel less depressed, I feel less anxious,and I feel more relaxed. Some patients even found the exercises helped to neutralize the side effects of their medications.

That experience motivated Frank to study yoga in greater depth and ultimately become a yoga teacher. Today, he combines conventional occupational therapy and yoga techniques in his job as an occupational therapist (OT) in the chronic pain rehabilitation program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. He is in good company. Spaulding employs more than a dozen therapists who are dually trained in OT or physical therapy (PT) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques, which include massage, cranial sacral therapy, biofeedback, Reiki, hypnosis, meditation, and mindfulness. Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Network also has a grant to train additional staff in these modalities and others.

The goal is to offer the best of both worlds. We call our program Integrative Medicine because we recognize the importance of integrating these techniques with traditional therapy practices to achieve the best therapeutic outcomes, says Eve Kennedy-Spaien, a clinical supervisor at Spaulding-Medford.

Dr. Eric Leskowitz, a psychiatrist and energy medicine practitioner who directs Spaulding?s Integrative Medicine Project, adds that these approaches have been effective not only in explaining the origins of some unusual pain syndromes like reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and phantom limb pain, but also in leading to exciting new clinical advances.

For the past decade and a half, Leskowitz has explored the uses of energy medicine a field that includes Reiki, acupuncture, and other approaches that harness the mystical force known as life energy (or qi, prana, or The Force)to help chronic pain patients who have not responded to conventional medicine. More recently, holistic practices have expanded into other areas as well. Our patient surveys have found that a very high proportion of responders (86 percent) feel more positively about Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital because of the availability of these services, he says.

Patients arrive at the center after car accidents, falls, and other traumas. Often, they have a brain injury as well, says Tina Dicenso, doctor of PT and a clinical supervisor at Spaulding-Medford. Working with all of the body?s systems aids in recovery,she says. She adds that meditation/relaxation techniques and massage can help them cope with the peaks and valleys of the healing process. The trend toward combining conventional and complementary therapies in rehab is not new, but its spreading thanks in part to a grassroots movement. Therapists like Frank are exploring new practices and finding them effective. Meanwhile, patients are growing familiar with other forms of therapy and are asking for them.

When our program started in 1979, it was pretty cutting edge, says Kate Traynor, a registered nurse and director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center at the Massachusetts Hospital that employs nurses with training in yoga, Tai Chi, and other alternative modalities. But now, most people have heard of these practices and are seeking advice/guidance in this area.

Melissa Roberto, a doctor of PT, athletic trainer, and certified personal trainer who is also director of outpatient rehabilitation at Hallmark Health Systems, describes a similar trend. I just evaluated a woman in her 80s who broke her ankle and her goal is to get back to yoga, she marvels. A yoga and Pilates practitioner herself, Roberto uses the techniques from both systems to help her patients counter the damaging effects of a sedentary and forward-leaning society. Pilates strengthens the weakened transverses abdominal muscle (which supports the low back), she explains. Meanwhile, yoga brings more mobility to the spine, strengthens and stabilizes the core, and calms the mind and nervous system.

Do these additional skills help therapists in their careers? Hiring managers say yes. While knowledge of a complementary modality would not be a sole reason for hiring someone, they say it would cause a resume to rise to the top of the stack.

Such training may also lead to advancement. Frank says he trains Spaulding staff in yoga, presents at an annual conference, and offers community classes that make yoga accessible to people with disabilities, activities that could help further his career.

Best of all is the potential for enhanced job satisfaction, he says. In the past I had some exercises to give people. But teaching yoga poses, breath work, and meditation has opened up a whole new realm of healing.