Paul Fleischer, Psy.D.
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"Knowing others is intelligence;
Knowing yourself is enlightenment.
Mastering others is power;
Mastering yourself is empowerment."
- Lao Tzu
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Background
Dr. Paul Fleischer is a clinical psychologist who has worked in a wide variety of counseling and medical settings to help people achieve optimal health and wellness. His work is based in the recognition that every person has the innate ability to acheive personal growth and optimal wellness. Through his work with people in emotional and physical pain, he has developed and utilized a number of highly effective experiential treatments. "I founded HealingWorks," Dr. Fleischer explains, "to make the tools that have helped my patients more widely available." Each HealingWorks audio program is carefully designed to help you access your mind/body/spirit wisdom and your natural healing abilities.
Dr. Fleischer has a doctorate in clinical psychology the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, as well as a Master's degree in Human Development and Learning from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. It was at CIIS that he was introduced to the science behind meditation, guided imagery, and other experiential tools. "While these kinds of techniques were once thought of as being 'out there', their benefits are now well-documented," Dr. Fleischer explains.
With his HealingWorks offerings, Dr. Fleischer set out to blend the healing power of these techniques with that of music. "Music has played such a vital role in my own life and healing," Dr. Fleischer says, "that it naturally became an area of professional interest as well." Music as a healing tool has been another area that has been the focus of a great deal of scientific research in recent years.
With HealingWorks, Dr. Fleischer set out to do things in a way that he had not seen done anywhere else before: 1) to give people a choice between types of background music to fit their preferences, 2) to utilize rock-based music as one of the options for the background music to the healing exercises, and 3) to put together a compilation of roots-rock songs from a mainstream artist that adds greater depth to the healing tools.
"Love is the golden thread that unites the many forms of healing."
- Bernie Siegel, MD
Wounded
This is the project that most prompted Dr. Fleischer to form HealingWorks. Wounded is the unique CD-set that uses guided imagery, affirmations, and music to help people overcome shame and addictions. Whether it is used alone, or in conjunction with his meditation and relaxation CDs, Wounded offers people powerful experiential techniques for healing the wounds underlying the shame and addictive behaviors.
Dr. Paul Fleischer has seen the devastation that addiction can cause. His involvement with community mental health facilities, prisons, hospitals, residential recovery programs, and his private practice have revealed common threads of addiction, as well as its solutions. "The more that I've worked with people in clinical practice," he explains, "the more I've realized that addiction - whether to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, or any sort of obsessive behavior - is rooted in shame-based thoughts and feelings from unresolved wounds. We are all wounded through negative life experiences and we can heal the wounds through more positive experiences."
In putting together these healing CDs, Dr. Fleischer set out to provide tools that uniquely address both the conscious and unconscious mind, and to make the experience as simple and pleasurable as possible. In using other self-help recordings with patients he had discovered that too many of them found the new-age music accompanying the exercises to be annoying or distracting. "New-Age ambient music works beautifully for some people, Dr. Fleischer points out, "but it's not for everybody." The baby-boomer generation, probably the largest portion of the population drawn to this sort of assistance, and those that have followed grew up listening to rock 'n' roll and tend to prefer music from that genre. "The music should be something that enhances the experience," Dr. Fleischer explains.
A long-time fan of musician Michael McDermott, Dr. Fleischer was listening to some of his music one day and had a revelation: not only was this the perfect music to back up the guided exercises, but a companion CD of McDermott's songs could be used as a healing tool in and of itself. "Songs have been an incredible source of catharsis, insight, and healing for me for as long as I can remember. The combination of lyrics and music can reach people in ways that no self-help book or exercise can. Michael's songs are particularly powerful, as he addresses both the struggles and the hopes of life from the perspective of someone who has been there. It just seemed like a perfect fit." Dr. Fleischer asked McDermott if he wanted to be a part of this project, and a beautiful partnership was born.
"I grew up in a time when people started seeking a deeper understanding of their own feelings and beliefs," Dr. Fleischer says. "It was an exciting time to go into this field, because the boundaries were being blurred and combining spirituality with psychology was becoming accepted." For now, Dr. Fleischer continues his practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and is already working on additional healing works.
To learn more about Dr. Fleischer’s practice please visit
www.healingworks-web.com
See Dr. Fleischer's article,
Psychotherapy and Mysticism in the New Age
in
Asheville Magazine
