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THIS ISSUE:
90th
Anniversary
Swedish Institute on-line newsletter for our students, faculty and community.
Wendy Miner, L.M.T.
Class of 1985
Enter the Bendheim
Integrative Medicine Center of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and you
will likely be captivated by its style. Luxurious interiors — once part of an Upper East Side
bank — combined with abundant sunlight streaming through its two-story windows create a reliable
"wow" factor. The center opened in November 1999 on East 65th Street, and moved to its new loaction
in July 2005. It is a fine setting for its current treasure: the highly skilled practioners who provide
its integratice therapies.
Wendy Miner, L.M.T. ('85), leads the corps of 13 massage therapists and 7 instructors working
there. They offer sessions of massage therapy, Reiki, Shiatsu, Thai massage, pregnancy massage,
reflexology, nutrition, acupuncture, aromatherapy, yoga, exercise and mind/body therapies for
MSKCC outpatients, staff, and the general community.
Massage and Medicine
Like the practitioners she supervises, Ms. Miner embodies the unique qualities needed to bridge the
world of high touch therapy and high tech medicine. Massage therapy has only recently been
reintroduced into hospital practices. (Students from 1916
to the 1930s regularly went to
hospitals for internships.)
Ms. Miner credits the change in attitude at MSKCC, the United States' oldest and largest private
institution devoted to patient care and research in cancer, to Barrie Cassileth, Ph.D. "In 1999,
when Dr. Cassileth initiated the Integrative Medicine Service it was greeted with skepticism,"
Ms. Miner recalled. "However, the climate has changed. A significant number of the 1,300 clients
we see a month now come from doctors' referrals. We're well past the point of having to convince
the medical staff of benefits.
Sessions in bodywork are offered to patients to alleviate stress, reduce pain and anxiety, manage
symptoms and promote a feeling of well being. Practitioners who work at the Integrative Medicine
Center are carefully selected for their experience, flexibility and communication skills. They go
through a mentoring period during which they learn the cumulative wisdom that has been culled by
this pioneering group. Though guidelines are in place, every session is individualized.
"Our therapists are professional caregivers," said Ms. Miner. "They listen a lot and refrain from
offering advice or presenting their personal view of what constitutes healing. I think a lot of
people are dissatisfied with the medical model because they feel they're not being recognized as
individuals; if we try to convince clients to see things from our point of view, isn't that
repeating the same phenomenon?"
Future Challenges
To discern how useful complementary therapies are in easing the challenges during cancer treatment
and recovery, the Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center is conducting a number of research projects,
including two in massage therapy. Studies include outpatients, as well as the inpatient population
practitioners see during their rotations in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital on York Avenue.
Ms. Miner presented preliminary findings at the Massage Therapy Foundation's first conference
highlighting massage therapy research in CAM, held in New Mexico in September 2005.
When asked whether massage and other complementary therapies could lose their unique benefits if
they are merely added to an existing medical model without changing it, Miner said with
characteristic conviction, "The work stands for itself and can never be compromised."
For more information
What is "integrative medicine"? The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine
has the following definition on its web site:
Integrative Medicine is the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and
healing.
The Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center of Memorial Sloan-Kettering is at 1429 First Avenue, New York City,
212.639.4700. Its services are offered to a wide variety of people, from those seeking to optimize wellness, recover from injuries, undergoing cancer treatment, or long-term cancer survivors.
Licensed massage therapists interested in the Center's classes on medical massage for patients with
cancer or Reiki classes can go to www.mskcc.org/intmed <http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11802.cfm>
and then to educational programs for upcoming dates.
Details about the Massage Therapy Foundation research conference, held Sept. 25, 2005 are posted on its
web site.
Photos
Top: The Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center at 1192 First Avenue.
Center: Wendy Miner at her light filled office in the MSK Integrative
Medicine Center.
All photos in the newsletter not otherwise specified are by Barbara Goldschmidt and are the
property of the Swedish Institute ©2006.