Where Medicine Meets Art with Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. and Marion Weber

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A doctor and an artist have joined their talents in a mode of therapy where pain becomes art and art becomes medicine. Through the medium of the sand tray--the spontaneous arrangement of a selection of miscellaneous objects--they allow patients to non-verbally access their own unconscious. The unconscious gains a symbolic voice that gives new meaning to their lives and to the art of healing itself. "Each of us is moving towards wholeness at all times, whether we're aware of it or not," says Remen. "To become aware of it is to be able to tend and nurture that process." Weber agrees:  "Life is a sand tray, and there are many ways that we can expand and use the unconscious wisdom." (hosted by Michael Toms and Justine Willis Toms)

Bios

Rachel Naomi Remen, MD (1938-2026) was a pioneering physician, author, and mind-body medicine teacher. She was Clinical Professor Emeritus of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF and Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State University's Boonshoft School of Medicine. She co-founded the Commonweal Cancer Help Program and founded the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness and she created "The Healer's Art," a curriculum now taught in medical schools nationwide.

Rachel Naomi Remen’s books include:

• Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal (Riverhead Books 1996)
• My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging (Riverhead Books, 2000)

Marion Weber is founder and director of the Arts and Healing Network, which recognizes "healing artists" as catalysts for social change. She also created the Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellowships. Weber has long been part of the Commonweal community in Bolinas, California, where she worked as a sandtray practitioner in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program alongside Rachel Naomi Remen, and is credited with developing "group sandtray" work to help physicians process burnout.

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

• What are the challenges of burnout for physicians
• What is the importance of a doctor’s attitude in the healing process
• How Remen became aware of the need for creativity when her mother gave her a paint box
• What is the significance of childhood creative moments such as working with Crayola colors
• What is the relationship of sandtray to the Jungian technique of self-discovery
• How witnessing is part of the healing process
• How group sandtray work helps doctors and nurses connect with their intuitive side

Host: Michael Toms & Justine Willis Toms    Interview Date: 8/18/1992   Program Number: 2348