The Twelve Tissue Remedies of Schuessler (New York:
Aperture, 1911), a classic homeopathic volume on
W. H. Schuessler’s system of homeopathic practice
and the golden age of homeopathy in America.
Boericke also wrote a homeopathic book, Materia
Medica with Repertory(Philadelphia: Boericke and
Runyon, 1927).
Bogart, Greg Doctor of philosophy and author of
Therapeutic Astrology: Using the Birth Chart in Psy-
chotherapy and Spiritual Counseling(Berkeley, Calif.:
Dawn Mountain, 1996).
Bohm, David Physicist and author of Wholeness
and the Implicate Order (London: Ark Paperbacks,
1983).
Bond, Mary Author of Balancing Your Body: A Self-
Help Approach to Rolfing Movement(Rochester, Vt.:
Healing Arts Press, 1993).
Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy A technique for
the relief of pain based on the use of manual pres-
sure on areas of the body known as “trigger
points,” developed by Bonnie Prudden, a veteran
authority on physical fitness and exercise therapy
and author of Pain Erasure and Myotherapy(New
York: Ballantine Books, 1980). Prudden’s work
contributed to the establishment of the President’s
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports during the
1950s. Trigger points, or places on the body where
painful muscle spasm occurs, may be the result of
trauma or injury, repetitive motion, prenatal
injury, or child or sexual abuse and may be exacer-
bated by the presence of disease, substance abuse,
and the aging process. Although medication can
break the spasm-pain-spasm cycle, Prudden’s
method aims to eliminate the trigger points com-
pletely by applying deep pressure on each point for
five to seven seconds. The method also involves
performing stretches and trigger-point sessions to
prevent recurrence of muscle spasm, strains,
sprains, dislocations, tension headaches, migraines,
temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome, hemor-
rhoids, prostate muscle spasms, impotence, incon-
tinence, arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, foot
pain, leg cramps, and neck, shoulder, arm, hand,
back, chest, and abdominal pain.
botanic physicians Medical doctors who incor-
porated the use of herbal remedies, after the 19th-
century American herbalist Samuel Thomson
started a movement of herbalism with legendary
success. When 22-year-old Thomson’s young
daughter contracted scarlet fever in 1791, and the
doctor said he could not help her, Thomson pro-
ceeded to use steam and warming drinks that
broke her fever and cured her. In 1805, a yellow
fever (or some other deadly fever) epidemic broke
out, and Thomson’s patients survived as many
others died. By 1839, there were 100,000 Thom-
sonian practitioners registered in America, and a
decade later the Eclectic Medical Institute emerged
when physicians and herbalists decided to join
forces. Several schools operated in major cities
throughout the country from the late 19th century
and into the 20th, but patent medicines rose as
competitors that crushed the finances of the Eclec-
tics. In Cincinnati, 1939, the last Eclectic Medical
School closed forever.Bott, Victor Physician and author of Anthropo-
sophical Medicine(Rochester, Vt.: Healing Arts Press,
1984), a summary of the medical system, known as
anthroposophical medicine, set forth by Rudolph
Steiner.Bowen Method A hands-on modality designed to
balance and positively affect the autonomic ner-
vous system, developed in the 1950s by the Aus-
tralian lay healer Thomas Bowen. With the fully
clothed patient lying prone on a padded table,
Bowen advocated a series of moves such as pulling
the skin away from a muscle or tendon, then
applying gentle pressure, and eventually allowing
the specific structure to spring back into its original
position. Bowen developed certain patterns for
three sets of moves to treat lower back, upper back,
and neck problems. Other moves are also added to
accommodate the patient’s particular health prob-
lem. Treatment sessions vary from 20 to 45 min-
utes. Bowen therapy is also used to provide benefit
to individuals with gastrointestinal disorders,
chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, headaches, respira-
tory ailments, sports- and work-related injuries,
and other conditions. Patients have reported that
symptoms subsided, and that anger and depressionBowen Method 21