| | From Alternative Medicine a Definitive Guide to the Wellness Inventory - An Interview with Pioneering Entrepreneur Jim Strohecker | |
Summary:
One of the rarely sung, significant influencers of our field is entrepreneur Jim Strohecker. Some 18 years ago he was executive editor of the 1100 page text, Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide which involved nearly 400 practitioners and organizations. In the mid-1990s, Strohecker co-founded HealthWorld Online, the first aggregator of wellness and alternative medicine-oriented content, services and professionals on the emerging web. More recently, he has not only re-purposed that site as Healthy.net, he also brought forward the work of wellness pioneer John Travis, MD, MPH. He promotes Travis' visionary Wellness Inventory through an online program for integrative medicine centers, hospitals, corporations, spas and individuals, together with a related coach certification training. In this Integrator interview, Strohecker's comments say much about the history of the integrative practice movement of the last 20 years, and its relationship with the broader wellness effort. Enjoy the learning, and for some of you, the recollections!
 Jim Strohecker: Two decades of enterpreneurial action in alternative medicine and wellness
While we spoke, I reflected on Strohecker's many, quiet contributions
to this field since he and I first met in the early 1990s. First there was the profound influence of the 1100 page, pioneering Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide for which he served as executive editor. Strohecker and his staff personally worked with nearly 400 practitioners and organizations across the alternative healthcare fields to build that massive text. ("Integrative medicine" didn''t yet exist and "complementary medicine" had not been imported from England.) Then came Strohecker''s early jump into the internet with the launch of HealthWorld Online. More recently he has focused on what he calls "bringing back a whole person perspective" on wellness. His work is centered on the promotion of the online Wellness Inventory developed by pioneer John Travis, MD, MPH after completing his residency at Johns Hopkins in the mid-1970s.
The arc of action and influence of Strohecker''s professional life led me to send
him a handful of open-ended questions. I asked him to be brief, caveating this
with recognition of my own shortcomings in that department. Strohecker sent
back this handiwork from a good day of self-reflection and history telling.
Take a breath and enjoy this read. Strohecker''s story elucidates significant
aspects of our trajectory toward health and wellness.
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Integrator: It’s been nearly 2 decades since
Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide was published. Those 1100 and some
pages gave the consumer movement for alternative medicine “drop value” back
then - hard covered, weighty and un-deniable if not exactly legitimate. In some
respect it was a first consortium effort with all those contributors. What was
it like to be pulling that book together. What was it’s reception, it’s value?
| Resumes are useful in employment decisions. I provide this background so that you may understand what informs the work which you may employ in your own. I have been involved as an organizer-writer in the emerging fields......more |  |
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