Dr. Larry Berkelhammer is a retired mind-body medicine psychologist. He has lived well with several chronic medical conditions since childhood. For decades he endured the frustration of not knowing the causes of his physical problems. Then, well into adulthood, he was diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases and a primary immunodeficiency disease. At the same time, he was told there were no known cures for any of them and that pharmacological treatment for some would make others worse. A long-time mindfulness and internal martial arts practitioner faced with this reality, Dr. Berkelhammer became curious about the power of those practices to improve health and well-being. He trained with several world leaders in psychooncology, psychophysiology, psychoneuroimmunology. He also trained for many years in the internal martial art of tai chi chuan under T.T. Liang and later under William C.C. Chen. Since the spring of 2018 he has been training in internal wing chun within the Chu Shong Tin lineage under Sifu Nima King at Mindful Wing Chun.

After treating patients for 19 years in private practice, Dr. Berkelhammer retired and spent his time writing, teaching and serving non-profit organizations that serve people with chronic medical conditions. Dr. Berkelhammer’s teaching appears in his two books: In Your Own Hands: New Hope for People with Chronic Medical Conditions (Self-Efficacy Press Jan. 2014, 98-0991243709) and Doctor’s Partner: The Self-Empowered Patient (Self-Efficacy Press Dec 2020).

In Your Own Hands: New Hope for People with Chronic Medical Conditions serves as a guide to help those living with chronic illness, as well as their caregivers, learn to live with conscious intention to maximize health and wellbeing.

Doctor’s Partner: The Self-Empowered Patient serves as a guide in how to take charge of your medical care. This book describes all the things that the most savvy medical patients do to receive optimal care.

Several years of presentations, interviews, and articles are available on his extensive website: https://larryberkelhammer.com.

Tag Archive for: Dr. Larry Berkelhammer

, , , , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – Can self-care confer meaning and purpose to my life?

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…
, , , , , , , , ,

Video: Self-Efficacy, Wellbeing, and Mastery—My Personal Experience

Self-efficacy is the belief that you can succeed in the life challenges presented to you. The greater your self-efficacy, the greater your chances of succeeding in everything you attempt to accomplish. What you believe about yourself makes a…
, , , , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – Why Mindful Biology?

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…
, , , , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – Please explain more about last week’s post on symbiotic relationships between mind and body

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…
, , , , ,

Video: Social Support Reduces the Odds of Developing Cancer

In a very famous epidemiology study, one of the most referenced of its kind because of its impressive sample size, UC Berkeley researchers Dr. Lisa Berkman and Dr. Leonard Syme studied seven thousand residents of Alameda County, California.…
, , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – What do you mean by “failing to appreciate the symbiotic relationship?

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…
, , , ,

Video: Social Support Reduces the Odds of Developing Cancer

In a substantial study of three thousand breast cancer patients, all of whom were nurses, completed in 2006, researchers found that women without close friends had a mortality rate of four times that of women with a close circle of friends. In…
, , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – Does mindfulness help get rid of the self-deprecating thoughts you describe as being so harmful?

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…
, , , , , , , ,

Q & A with Dr. B. – What is the difference between wants and needs?

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly…