Doctor Heals His
Life Long Migraines

Robert H. Knapp, M.D. 1973, graduated Upstate Medical School... studied homeopathy, color therapy, magnetic therapy and other alternative approaches in England. Presently in private practice as a holistic/integrative physician with training in psychiatry. 1975 Director of Healing Haven, a research and teaching organization that investigates and promotes the best of all healing methods, orthodox and unorthodox, East and West, physical, psychological and spiritual approaches. Dr. Knapp is the co-author of two texts: Twelve Power in You and Birth of the Light Body.

RB: Why did you enter into this type of healing work?
RHK: My baby sister died suddenly when I was 7 years old, and my Mom was hospitalized for acute depression. The family upheaval and fracturing left a deep scar in me psychologically. It was not so much that I had thought all of this through prior to going to medical school. Only in hindsight, really, did it dawn on me that part of the reason I wanted to become a psychiatrist was to understand and  to heal my past, as well as to bring some degree of new balance to my whole family.  Often in healthcare, people go into this work because of their need to heal something within themselves. That certainly was the case with me.

RB: Can you site a case where you were able to help someone using an holistic approach?
RHK: I will give you my story on my migraine headaches, which is described in more detail in the chapter on faith in my book "Twelve Powers In You." My migraines were presented in a classic fashion: headaches on one side of the head, preceded by an aura and flashing lights in the eye on that side of the head, followed by nausea and vomiting. Medical tests, including a brain scan, showed no pathology. Treatment with standard migraine medication in the 1970s helped to subdue the symptoms but did not prevent the migraines from occurring approximately twice per month.

Additional treatment included removing junk food from my diet. Relaxation exercises also were initiated, mostly in the form of yoga. I also started meditating. It took about six months, but the migraines gradually decreased in frequency, and never again returned.

This holistic approach honored and utilized traditional, orthodox medicine, but added to it nutritional approaches, as well as forms of exercise and relaxation. The meditation was particularly effective in this treatment. It helped me discover my personal connection with a Higher Power, a spiritual dimension and a purpose that had been missing in my life.

RB: What message would you like to give people?
RHK: I feel the best way to awaken people to a better life style is to teach them visualization, and exercises on how to develop a whole-brain learning approach  for living the life they've imagine.

Dr. Robert Knapp can be reached by e-mailing: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it