Interview with Dr. Christina Barbara Petersen: “Take your health into your own hands!”

"Health begins in our heads - we just have to learn to listen to our inner voice and our needs. In my opinion, it is time to rethink: away from 'dependence' on the doctor, towards the joy of taking personal responsibility for our health - so that we do not have to 'repair' illnesses, but instead prevent them from occurring in the first place." The general practitioner Dr. med. Christina Barbara Petersen , author of the guidebook " Intuitively Healthy ", is committed to health education and advocates integrative medicine - an equal coexistence of conventional and alternative medicine - in order to be able to offer those seeking help the best, individual therapy.

Your book “ Intuitively Healthy ” was initially a successful self-published title and is now being published as a revised and expanded new edition. What motivated you to write and publish this book, and what kind of readers do you hope it will reach?

Dr. Christina B. Petersen: This book was written completely spontaneously. In the summer of 2018, I was seized by a flow of writing that I couldn't resist. It was almost like an inspiration that I had to follow. I am first and foremost a doctor and never really had any ambitions to become an author. In the book, I described the experiences of my personal life and my findings, which ultimately led me to the source of a completely new mindset. I would like to share these findings with my fellow human beings. As a doctor, I feel obliged to do the best for the health of humanity. In my very personal search, I found the source of health and well-being for myself and my life, which is, by the way, something completely different from what I originally learned in my training as a doctor. I would like to invite anyone who is open to it to be inspired by my findings. Basically, the book is written for everyone who wants to look behind the scenes of their health and take their lives into their own hands.

You are not only a specialist in general medicine, but also a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. In your opinion, how can conventional medicine and alternative healing methods benefit from each other, and what is meant by "integrative medicine"?

Dr. Petersen: Both conventional medicine and alternative treatment methods have their right to exist. In the western world, we focus mainly on the medicine taught at universities. This relates to the basic building blocks of the body and is very mechanical. The various disciplines operate separately from one another. Far Eastern medicine includes body, mind and soul in its diagnosis and therapy and emphasizes the very individual aspect of the course of the disease. It is not about illness and health, but rather about imbalance, which is brought back into balance. I see it like this: Acute illnesses or injuries, such as a broken bone, can be treated very effectively with conventional medical therapies. With chronic illnesses, however, I have found that these therapies reach their limits. For this, I have acquired the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine. This intervenes much earlier, namely when there are problems with well-being, and involves much more individualized diagnostics and therapy. In my opinion, integrative medicine, i.e. a combination or coexistence of conventional medicine and alternative approaches, is a very effective healing system to achieve the maximum benefit for the health of our patients.

Never before have the global efforts in medical research and expenditure on health been greater than they are today. And yet the number of sick people who are only inadequately helped or not helped at all by medicine is constantly increasing. Why might this be?

Dr. Petersen: In my experience, often only the symptoms of an illness are treated instead of treating the underlying causes. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, due to the high volume of patients and the simultaneous shortage of specialists, there is often not enough time for a detailed anamnesis. Secondly, many patients see taking medication as a supposedly "easier" way to recover. Unfortunately, this only masks the symptoms and a real cure is often not possible. Nevertheless, some patients shy away from taking responsibility for their own lives and health. Thirdly, we doctors are unfortunately not always good role models when it comes to our own health and lifestyle. Fourthly, the economization of the health system means that the focus is not always on health, but on economic considerations. It is therefore often more important to function in the short term - to the detriment of long-term health.

It is particularly important to you to create greater awareness of the issue of doctor health among the population. Why is it that members of the medical and social professions in particular pay so little attention to themselves and their bodies?

Dr. Petersen: The reason for this is that, on the one hand, no focus is placed on maintaining one's own health during training. And, on the other hand, many doctors tend to have a "helper mentality" and an exaggerated sense of responsibility. Many doctors put the well-being of their patients first and neglect their own health.

You have personally experienced that health and illness begin in the mind, and you accompany patients who have become blocked by negative beliefs and become chronically ill. In this context, what do you mean by the "Petersen Process of Healing", the "Petersen Formula of Basic Needs" and the "Petersen Communication Code"?

Dr. Petersen: I ignored my own needs and the signals from my body for years. Unconsciously, I turned against myself in order to be able to function better in my job as a doctor. That was the "dilemma" of my previous way of thinking. The cause was negative beliefs in my head. When I realized that and gradually learned to listen to my own inner voice and my body and to dissolve my blocking beliefs, the physical complaints I had at the time disappeared and I became more resilient. Today, I can act as a good role model for my patients and stay healthy in the long term. In the book, I describe my healing journey, which deals with your own basic needs and promotes self-awareness.

Your vision is that as many people as possible regain confidence in their own bodies, take responsibility for themselves and stay healthy in the long term. How can this goal be achieved?

Dr. Petersen: I am taking the first step as a doctor by educating people about prevention and thus preventing them from getting sick, instead of just concentrating on treating illnesses (“repair”). In my view, a fundamental change in thinking is needed. Away from “dependence” on doctors, towards the joy of taking personal responsibility for one’s own health. The key word is “self-love” instead of “self-sabotage”. If everyone learns to perceive and interpret their body’s own signals before they actually get sick, “repair medicine” will only be needed for real emergencies.

Book tip:
Dr. med. Christina Barbara Petersen: Intuitively healthy. Become your own inner doctor! Mankau Verlag, 1st edition March 2021, paperback, 13.5 x 21.5 cm, 190 pages, 14.95 euros (D) / 15.40 euros (A), ISBN 978-3-86374-590-5.

Link recommendations:
More information about the guide “Intuitively healthy”
To the reading sample in PDF format
More about author Christina Barbara Petersen
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