Lou Lukas: Mind-Body Disease and the Somatic Connection
In this episode...
Today on The Soul of Life I speak with Dr. Lou Lucas, chief of Palliative Medicine at the Nebraska and Western Iowa Veterans Health Care Systems.
As a palliative medicine doctor, Dr. Lucas is trained to pull together all of the specialists that might be caring for a patient with a life threating disease and implement a cohesive treatment plan that cares for body, mind, and soul.
She gives special attention to the well established link between mental health and physical health and the role of spirituality in healing.
I ask Dr. Lucas to explain the mind-body connection and stress and not just their role in autoimmune disorders like gastrointestinal problems, arthritis, migraines, nerve damage, and even some cancers—but how to utilize the power of the mind to transform and heal the body.
Lou introduces me to a new word she invented about a year ago: Paleodelic.
“Paleodelic means to relieve suffering by revealing the mind.”
She is basically combining palliative medicine with cutting-edge psychedelic treatments that rapidly accelerate a person’s development of peace and acceptance with their identity and gives them lasting mental and emotional flexibility in the face of fear and stress.
And finally Lou affirms something you’re familiar with me covering frequently on The Soul of Life which is the powerful and life-changing effects—similar in many ways to a psychedelic journey—of using Internal Family Systems as a psychotherapeutic and spiritual tool.
"Most people have a lived experience that there’s something bigger than I am. I am part of something. There is more to live than the things you can count and categorize."
– Dr. Lou Lukas, chief of Palliative Medicine at the Nebraska and Western Iowa Veterans Health Care Systems
In Dr. Lukas’ words:
“I got into my early 20s thinking like oh great I escaped, I’m not an alcoholic, everything’s fine. But then I was like oh, everything’s not fine. And I found my way into therapy and really understood how important that was. So I came into the study of medicine with a personal portfolio of knowing what happens to kids in households that wouldn’t look that bad on the outside.”