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
Studies by James McKay found that people who are open and friendly to strangers had half the rate of major illnesses of those who kept a cold and distant attitude toward strangers. These “affiliator types” (people who value relationships)…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-04-19 09:00:572016-06-20 10:57:29Video: Openheartedness and Love Confer Health
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…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-04-15 06:00:432016-03-01 16:24:03Q & A with Dr. B. – You describe a mother’s motivation for caring for her baby. I don’t understand how that relates to adults caring for themselves.
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…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-04-08 06:00:532016-03-01 16:17:25Q & A with Dr. B. – Would you describe in more detail how your teaching evolved from teaching self-discipline to Mindful Biology and Loving Self-Care?Epidemiology researchers in one study exploring the effects of social support on cancer survival, interviewed 244 breast cancer patients. The patients were asked how many people they confided in during the three months post surgery. Then…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-04-05 09:00:342016-04-14 17:56:02Video: Social Support, Development of Cancer, and Cancer Survival
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…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-04-01 06:00:282016-03-01 16:16:43Q & A with Dr. B. – The Mindful Biology you describe sounds interesting. Can you say more about it?In a very famous epidemiology study, one of the most referenced of its kind because of its impressive sample size, researchers Dr. Lisa Berkman and Dr. Leonard Syme studied seven thousand residents of Alameda County, California. All of them…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-03-29 09:00:582016-03-28 13:23:05Video: Social Isolation = Sickness and Death
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…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-03-25 06:00:522016-03-01 16:16:01Q & A with Dr. B. – You mentioned that what you found to be most effective was Mindful Biology; what is that?Around the world and in all cultures, the healthiest people belong to some kind of community or at least have close friends. Humans are meant to be in community and the degree of community we experience directly correlates with the degree of…
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-03-22 09:00:382016-03-21 16:17:16Video: Social Connections Are Essential for Health
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…
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Larry Berkelhammer
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Larry Berkelhammer2016-03-18 06:00:222016-03-01 16:15:01Q & A with Dr. B. – You said that the concepts of self-discipline and compliance were not working. What did you find to be more effective?