This distinguished Texas physician, deeply rooted in the scientific world, has become an internationally influential advocate of the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. Bringing the experience of a practicing internist and the soul of a poet to the discourse, Dr. Larry Dossey offers panoramic insight into the nature and the future of medicine.

Upon graduating with honors from the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Dossey worked as a pharmacist while earning his M.D. degree from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, 1967. Before completing his residency in internal medicine, he served as a battalion surgeon in Vietnam, where he was decorated for valor. Dr. Dossey helped establish the Dallas Diagnostic Association, the largest group of internal medicine practitioners in that city, and was Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital in 1982.

An education steeped in traditional Western medicine did not prepare Dr. Dossey for patients who were blessed with "miracle cures," remissions that clinical medicine could not explain. "Almost all physicians possess a lavish list of strange happenings unexplainable by normal science," says Dr. Dossey. "A tally of these events would demonstrate, I am convinced, that medical science not only has not had the last word, it has hardly had the first word on how the world works, especially when the mind is involved."

The author of nine books and numerous articles, Dr. Dossey is the former Executive Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, the most widely subscribed-to journal in its field. The primary quality of all of Dr. Dossey's work is scientific legitimacy, with an insistent focus on "what the data show." As a result, his colleagues in medical schools and hospitals all over the country trust him, honor his message, and continually invite him to share his insights with them. He has lectured all over the world, including major medical schools and hospitals in the United States --Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, the Universities of Pennsylvania, California, Washington, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, and the Mayo Clinic.

The impact of Dr. Dossey's work has been remarkable. Before his book Healing Words was published in 1993, only three U.S. medical schools had courses devoted to exploring the role of religious practice and prayer in health; currently, nearly 80 medical schools have instituted such courses, many of which utilize Dr. Dossey's works as textbooks. In his 1989 book Recovering the Soul, he introduced the concept of "nonlocal mind" -- mind unconfined to the brain and body, mind spread infinitely throughout space and time. Since then, "nonlocal mind" has been adopted by many leading scientists as an emerging image of consciousness. Dr. Dossey's ever-deepening explication of nonlocal mind provides a legitimate foundation for the merging of spirit and medicine. The ramifications of such a union are radical and call for no less than the reinvention of medicine.

Ellen Kamhi, PhD, RN, a-HNC, AHG, The Natural Nurse® has been involved in Natural Medicine since 1973, when she directed a program in Ethnobotany at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona. Dr. Kamhi attended Rutgers and Cornell Universities, sat on the Panel of Traditional Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical School, and is a Clinical Instructor at Stony Brook Medical School, and at NY Chiropractic College, where she teaches Botanical Pharmacology.

Ellen was nominated for the March of Dimes, Woman of Distinction, 2004 and received the J.G. Gallimore award for research in science. A respected authority in the field of natural healing, Dr. Kamhi is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild (AHG), is nationally board certified as a holistic nurse (a-HNC), and works to bring together a body of modern and ancient practices and philosophies that use less invasive, less toxic, natural techniques to enhance wellness.

Along with Dr. Eugene Zampieron, ND Ellen heads Natural Alternative Health, Education and Multimedia Services, and leads EcoTours For Cures™, which brings participants to indiginous areas to experience the ancient healing arts of traditional cultures. Ellen is the author of Cycles of Life, Herbs for Women, The Natural Guide to Great Sex, WEIGHT LOSS- the Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide(2007) and co-author with Dr. Zampieron of The Natural Medicine Chest and Arthritis, The Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide (1999, revised 2006).

Ellen is often quoted in numerous print media including Marie Clare, Latina, Self, Woman’s World, National Examiner, Cosmopolitan and Glamour.  She appears daily on radio/TV  and provides personal health consultations. In addition, Dr. Kamhi participates in the design and development of herbal and nutritional products for Nature’s Answer, Hauppauge, NY.

Annamaria Hemingway, Ph.D., is a writer, speaker, and spiritual counselor in the practice of conscious living and dying. A personal quest to discover a deeper purpose to the pilgrimage of life led her on a path to study world religious and spiritual traditions, ancient rites and rituals, mystical states of consciousness, and universal cultural mythologies surrounding death and dying. She received an MA in Consciousness Psychology, and was also granted an MA/PhD in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis on Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has worked in hospice care, and is a member of the International Association for Near-Death Studies.

Annamaria became fascinated in tracing how the primordial affirmation of death and rebirth, signifying the transformation of consciousness, is encapsulated in ancient resurrection myths, the practices of many diverse spiritual traditions, and alchemical symbolism Her research, detailed in Practicing Conscious Living and Dying, Myths of the Afterlife, and the soon to be published Immortal Yearnings, reveals that this same affirmation is still vitally alive and manifests in spiritually transformative experiences, including contemporary near-death experiences and deathbed visions, which  reaffirm the ancient belief in the posthumous journey of the soul.

Rediscovering this great legacy of invaluable knowledge provides guidance on how to realign with the divine aspect of human existence in our materially driven culture and weaves a tapestry of hope that physical death may be just a transition into an eternal continuum of consciousness.

Mark Schumacher attended the University of Fla. as a pre-med major and later worked for 5 years in emergency medicine. After delivering babies in the field, as well as working with cardiac arrest and trauma injuries, he turned his attention to health education, wellness, and fitness.

As a sports coach for nearly 35 years, he currently is a health coach helping individuals understand that they have a choice in how healthy they can be. He believes that only through education can we solve the health care crisis in America. He doesn't believe in reaching for a prescription drug for an easy solution. Prescription drugs rarely will ever cure a disease.

He believes that you transition into a state of ill health over a period of time, and you can therefore transition out of it. The simple advice is to "Stop doing the things that are bad for you and start doing the things that are good for you".

As a two-time National Black Belt champion in Tae-kwon-do at ages 55 and 56, competing against men 20 years his junior, Mark is a great believer in challenging yourself.

Mark is the owner of Enerex USA, the premium line of nutritional supplements that most doctors, as well as Olympic athletes, prefer. He can be reached thru mark@enerexusa.com

He hopes to change the information being given to children so that the cycle of disease can be broken. If you look at statistics in the US as far as heart disease, diabetes, dementia and other degenerative diseases, we are failing miserably. One out of three children is expected to have diabetes. This is a dangerous disease causing an amputation every 6 minutes. We have to do a better job.

Angie Mattson grew up in Michigan being the eldest of eight siblings. While working at a recreation center she taught herself piano at age 14. In High School she sang and toured with a local theatre. While living on a boat in Florida she taught herself to play guitar. During her two year stay living on a boat and traveling in the West Indies, she began her song writing debut. Soon her songs became so popular that she made the move to Los Angeles where she recorded a demo with producer Rudy Haesermann called "Monarch." The demo caught the attention her now manager Michael Hausman.

Many of her songs could be heard in many films and TV Shows. Her debut album, Given to Sudden Panic and Noisy Retreat which includes noteworthy songs such as "Drive," "In Violet" and "Hiding Cards" was produced by Nathan Larson and was released by her independent label Radio Nine Records in 2007. Her music is wide ranged in genre from soul to folk to blues to rock and all the above. Many have tried to compare her but once you've listened to her music, you will be captivated by both her sound and ballad.

Angie can also be found in many films including 2003 Chris Rock's "Head of State."

Susan Crain Bakos - An outspoken champion of female (and male) sexual empowerment, I created SexyPrime to enhance your sex life—by giving you technique tips, reporting on the latest sex behavior and sex science research and sex trends from around the world, connecting with you intellectually through book (and occasionally art and movie) reviews and cultural commentary, and entertaining and arousing you with sex stories. I am a research sexologist, a sex educator, a magazine journalist--with credits from The Ladies Home Journal to Penthouse--the author of twenty books and a ghostwriter. Listening and talking to people about their most intimate erotic experiences comes easily to me, and I believe sex is intrinsic to a healthy and happy life. We express our core identities through our sexuality. I support and celebrate your choices freely made, whether you are straight, gay, bi, poly, monogamous or whatever—and I stand up for female sexuality at every age and stage of life. Ah, but I also love men.

As an aging Boomer, I want to be an example of sexual freedom, especially to my sister Cougars and younger women. I am the outrageous Auntie Mame (with the latest science of sex studies in her overnight bag along with the scarves and pearls and black lace-topped thigh high stockings) who gives her married sister a vibrator for Mother's Day and adores her young nieces. I am mentally preparing for my final persona, The Grande Dame of Sex.

I am most proud of the techniques I have created: The Orgasm Loop, a revolutionary no-fail orgasm technique for women (It really works!) and The Sex Wardrobe Basics, sex techniques inspired by and paired with wardrobe items like red shoes, a string of pearls, the white boyfriend shirt—and more. (It’s a series in progress.) My original fellatio technique, The Basic Black Dress of Blow Jobs, was the first of the series.

I am a freelance journalist and author. Bearded Lady, a Kindle Single chronicling my battle with body hair, is my most recent piece. Prior to that, I wrote Sparkle, my Kindle Single on engagement rings. Sparkle managed to become a 2011 top 10 Kindle Single. Prior to that, I wrote several articles for Inside Jersey, The Star-Ledger's monthly magazine. One of these pieces, The Pleasure Lab, was awarded a bronze Eddie Award. I wrote several articles for Inside Jersey, The Star-Ledger's monthly magazine. One of these pieces, The Pleasure Lab, was awarded a bronze Eddie Award.

I've also written articles for First Things, New York Magazine and The New York Times. When I am not freelancing, I am: working on my second book, taunting my lactose intolerance with lattes, cracking my knuckles, and then wondering if I'm going to get arthritis from cracking my knuckles and adjuncting at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

My first book, Thanks For Coming, was published by Harper Collins in 2009. It is curently being translated into three languages - German, Portuguese and Spanish. In the summer of 2010, Thanks for Coming was optioned by HBO.

Before I was writing novels and freelancing, I was a staff writer for the Village Voice and for daily newspapers in both India and Thailand.

Paul Petersen
Founder of A Minor Consideration

Paul Petersen has been through practically the worst that can happen to a former child star when the Hollywood tide suddenly turns and one is no longer a part of the neat elite. Unlike others, however, such as Anissa Jones, Rusty Hamer and Dana Plato, he survived. As a result, actor Paul Petersen today is THE most dedicated advocate in protecting both present-day child stars and shunned one-time celebrity tykes alike. Paul formed A Minor Consideration, a child-actor support group back in 1990, and it has had a tremendously positive and profound effect in Hollywood.

It started out much differently for Paul back in the 50s. Born in 1945 in Glendale, California, he had an enthusiastic stage mother who pushed him into the business. He began performing as an eight-year-old as one of the original "Mousketeers" on the "Mickey Mouse Club" in 1955. He also appeared in such movies as The Monolith Monsters (1957) and Houseboat (1958) opposite the likes of Cary Grant and Sophia Loren before scoring big at age 12 as Donna Reed's son on her popular sitcom. With Carl Betz as his highly practical doctor dad and Shelley Fabares as his older pretty sister, the foursome became the ideal nuclear family for late 50s/early 60s viewers. Paul and his alter-ego Jeff Stone literally grew up on the show. By his teens, the good-looking, dark-haired lad had become a formidable heartthrob. Fan clubs sprouted up everywhere. So popular were both Paul and Shelley that they spun off into recording careers, groomed to become singing idols despite their modest voices. She scored with the #1 hit "Johnny Angel" and he had a few minor hits with "She Can't Find Her Keys," "Keep Your Love Locked," "Lollipops and Roses" and "My Dad."

The fun ended, however, after the show's demise in 1966. His All-American teen typecast didn't fit the bill as the dissonant Vietnam counterculture took hold. His acting attempts as a serious young adult also went nowhere. Audiences still saw Paul as Jeff Stone. Roles in A Time for Killing (1967), Something for a Lonely Man (1968) (TV) and Journey to Shiloh (1968) came and went. Guest parts on "The Virginian" and "The FBI" did nothing to advance him. What he could scrape up were such outdated roles as "Moondoggie" in a revamped Gidget TV movie.

Lost and abandoned, Paul eventually was forced to give it all up and went through a period of great personal anguish and turmoil. Wisely, he enrolled at college and started writing adventure novels (penning 16 books in all). For 10 years he ran his own limousine service. His biggest accomplishment to date, however, has been to give back selflessly to an industry that unceremoniously dumped him. In essence, A Minor Consideration is an outreach organization that oversees the emotional, financial and legal protection of kids and former kids in show business. Among the issues Paul deals with are better education, and stricter laws regarding a 40-hour work week. For those who have "been there, done that" and are experiencing severe emotional and/or substance abuse problems, he offers a solid hand in helping them find a renewed sense of purpose. Today, Paul is rightfully considered "the patron saint of former child actors."