The word 'heal' comes from the ancient English word 'hal,' meaning 'to make whole,' which implies much more than the mere eradication of symptoms. Instead, it means to reconnect with those aspects of ourselves from which we have disassociated due to the experience of trauma or illness. Healing is not a goal to achieve but rather a continuous path, winding through our lives. At times painful, the healing process always brings opportunities for growth. Donald Epstein, DC, describes the levels of becoming whole in his book, The Twelve Stages of Healing, and he postulates that we are always in one or more of these stages. An understanding of the stages can help us recognize how we grow and evolve into healthier individuals.

Stage One: Suffering Stage one is triggered by loss – loss of a loved one, a job or anything we have identified as being 'our whole world.' Our situation appears terminal as we have no way out and no one can help. This stage is marked by deep emotional and/or physical pain. We feel horribly helpless and paralyzed, and nothing seems to help.

Stage Two: Polarities and Rhythms In most cases, the pain of stage one eventually begins to abate. Although still there, we begin to see beyond the pain to think about tomorrow and slowly begin to function again. At this stage we become judgmental and seek to lay blame for our suffering. We see ourselves as the victim, and the other person as the cause of our suffering. At this point we may seek help from an external agent to end our suffering. For example, a friend may suggest therapy, and we seek it out and find that it works wonders – until whatever initially caused our suffering is triggered again. Then we suffer again. Many people spend their entire lives flip-flopping between stages one and two.

Stage Three: Stuck in a Perspective While in stage two, some of us notice a pattern to our suffering. For example, if it was due to the loss of a romantic relationship, we may begin to realize that each of our past partners shared the same traits. In other words, we begin to see that our suffering comes from the choices we have made, rather than just seeing ourselves as a victim of circumstance. We may want to change but do not know how. We can analyze and judge ourselves for feeling “stuck,” but the healthy approach is just to acknowledge it. Unfortunately, people can remain stuck for many, many years.

Stage Four: Reclaim Power This stage of healing is characterized by anger – anger that we have been giving our power away – and a passion to reclaim our power. In this stage we proclaim, “I'm not going to take it anymore!” But this stage has two paths; on one, we feel totally helpless and we drop back to stage one; on the other, we gain the personal power we need to propel ourselves into stage five.

Stage Five: Stage of Merging In this stage, we merge with the fears, pains, illusions and concerns behind our suffering. We do this from a place of strength and the sincere desire for wholeness that we declared in stage four. When we merge with our illusions, we feel a sense of personal empowerment on intellectual, spiritual and emotional levels. In this stage, we revisit the source of our suffering, and we feel peaceful with it because we know we do not have to live with it anymore.

Stage Six: Preparation for Resolution Stages six, seven and eight may come in rapid succession. In the lower stages, suffering is caused by events that our nerve system has deemed unsafe for us to experience, and the energy and information of the event is translated into vibration and tension which is stored in our bodies. Stage six involves the awareness that the energy behind the dissonant aspects of our lives is about to be relinquished. It is a building of momentum that allows the body to discharge and release, such as the type of feeling (energy) we get right before we throw up or sneeze. The feelings we experience in this stage may be uncomfortable as the tension before the release builds, but if we have moved successfully through the first stages, we can accept what is about to happen as we move into the next stage. During stage six, we make empowering lifestyle changes. We become open to new perspectives of healing and commit ourselves to a state of wellness. This stage is also characterized by events of serendipity and the knowledge that there are no coincidences although synchronicities may continue to surprise us.

Stage Seven: Resolution Stage seven discharges the tensions that built up in stage six. In a successful discharge, the body/mind system moves from a state of distress toward ease, resulting in resolution. This discharge may not always be dramatic; it may be expressed as weeping, laughter or a sigh of relief and produces feelings of calmness, accomplishment, success and a sense of peace. We become grounded, flexible and able to grow into a greater state of wholeness.

Stage Eight: Readiness in Emptiness Having discharged our tensions, we are left with a vacuum, a void, and may feel lonely entering this stage. But the emptiness makes room for new possibilities and connections as we reach out to new friends and experiences. This emptiness is the portal that leads us to later states of awareness; it is the first state of “being.” Because the focus of suffering has been relinquished, stage eight allows us to see all the possibilities that life has to offer, a place Deepak Chopra calls “the Field of Possibilities.” In this stage, we expect synchronicities, knowing that this is how life works. We begin to feel gratitude for the supportive universe in which we exist, and we sense that there is more to life's events than is available to our senses.

Stage Nine: Light Behind the Form This stage is characterized by an awareness that there is more to us than our physical body. We perceive a life force, an energy or an intelligence that flows or expresses itself through us. We experience feelings of peace, simplicity and joy from feeling this life-force energy. We are left with a profound sense of gratitude.

Stage Ten: Ascent Although not the highest stage of healing, this is the one that is most sought after. We feel at one with the universe – we become the energy, we become the consciousness, we become love. We merge with the universe and no longer experience time or space. We just are. However, as physical beings, we are not meant to live in stage ten, only experience it.

Stage Eleven: Decent After experiencing the grace of stage ten, we know that the source of power, love and consciousness is universal. It does not come from us or others, nor is it dependent upon outer events in life. It just is. We feel blessed to be connected to this matrix of creation. We no longer feel isolated from the source that we experienced in stage ten. We experience unconditional love, and we learn that love is not something that is to be received from others, but rather it is to be experienced and shared. As we descend in this stage of healing, our intuition falls into alignment with life's natural rhythms. We sustain gratitude and remain in awe of the miracle of life as we go on with our daily activities.

Stage Twelve: Community In this final stage, we strive to further unity, respect and planetary healing as we find how we may best focus and express the energy of intelligence that binds and maintains the universe. Rather than each of us acting as individuals and competing for energy, we are “each other's medicine.” We naturally and joyously commit to the spirit of community, whether it is the community of our body/mind, our primary relationships, our neighborhood or the world.

By exploring these twelve stages, we can see that healing is an expression of consciousness. As author George Hogben, MD, says, “Healing may be defined as a miraculous unfolding of consciousness for one's being in the world. We learn who we are, what and who really matter to us, how to express ourselves fully and openly. Ultimately, the healing journey leads us to an intimate union with God through the experience of the flow of God's spirit within. It is a slow, arduous passage, unique for each individual, filled with danger and risk, triumph and joy, leading finally to peace, trust, awe, reverence, love and tenderness.


Dennis Ehren, DC is the director of the Ehren Chiropractic & Wellness Center, located at 13314 Detroit Ave in Lakewood. He specializes in Network Spinal Analysis and Holographic Health. Dr. Ehren can be contacted at (216) 221-9990, and you can look up the center on the web at www.ehrenchiropractic.com.