Francisco. He moved on to England where he studied and promoted a view of psychiatry which attempted to normalize psychiatric illnesses as “different ways of being.” He became intrigued further with “alternative” medicine and served as director of a study of alternative mental health services during President Carter’s administration.
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His concentration on the “mind-body” connection now promoted as complementary medicine has some interesting side roads. Gordon is scientific advisor to PEER, (Program for Extraordinary Experience Research) which was established by psychiatrist John Mack to aid his work with people reporting experiences of alien abduction. (Mack, and it appears Gordon also, believe people are sometimes abducted by aliens.)
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In 1997 Gordon spoke at a conference devoted to Wilhelm Reich, the troubled promoter of the “orgone theory” who declared that sexual energy permeates the fabric of reality and can be collected from people sitting in boxes. Gordon has also written on UFOs and was a follower of Bhagwan Rajneesh of India, Antelope, Oregon, and “poisoning the locals” fame. “The Golden Guru” which Gordon authored, is a sympathetic portrayal of the very controversial guru based on several years of relationship.
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In another peculiar twist Gordon, as a psychiatrist for the defense team of Terry Nichols, recommended a short prison term, writing it is “difficult to believe [Nichols] intentionally took anyone’s life or indeed took part in any activity which might conceivably take someone’s life.” His opinion was based on reading some of Nichols’ letters.
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Seemingly less controversial is Dean Ornish, MD, of the famous Ornish Diet. Ornish has produced some studies based on his lifestyle plan for reversing heart disease which involves extreme dietary changes and very low fat intake. Central to Ornish’s program, however, is a heavy reliance on eastern meditation and mysticism. Over 100 pages in his first book elaborated on the mystical “change of heart” required for the program’s effectiveness.
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One of the most peculiar choices even for this commission is Donald W. Warren from Clinton, Arkansas. Warren is a dentist who has expanded his practice to include a variety of alternative practices including one called dental cranial osteopathy whereby the bones of one’s skull can be “moved” to alter the flow and pulsation of cerebral spinal fluid to improve health. Needless to say the evidence is rather scanty for this practice.
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But it gets worse. Warren is also a dedicated Contact Reflex Analysis practitioner. CRA was developed by a Michigan chiropractor, Dick Verdsendaal, and is most often used to sell Standard Process supplements. Utilizing a variation of George Goodheart’s “Applied Kinesiology” the CRA practitioner touches particular spots on the patient’s body, speaks to the body, and pushes the arm down to determine the body’s needs and deficiencies. It is said to be able to detect sub-clinical conditions that “many modern methods of testing” cannot
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