A Helpful Lens for Health and Wellness
In energy medicine, the mind-body-spirit framework is often used to describe the different dimensions through which energy is expressed, exchanged, and experienced. While conventional medicine primarily focuses on measurable physical processes, energy medicine proposes that health is influenced by patterns of energy that connect the physical body, mental-emotional states, and spiritual aspects of human experience. Although energy has been a concept in medicine for thousands of years and tied with all aspects of human health, different medical systems define and measure it differently.
Drawing on Einstein’s insights and the work of Dr. Fritz Albert Popp, science has shown that everything – including our physical tissues – is fundamentally energy. Even though Einstein discovered the equation E= MC² ((energy = (mass) x (speed of light) x (speed of light)), we may forget that energy, mass and light are all part of the same equation. The fact that we are more than just material beings, made up of chemicals, cells, tissues, organs and families is sometimes overlooked. In reality, we could also be called light or energy beings, which is the work that Popp brought to the world. He showed that our body’s cells emit light, which he called biophotons.
We are living at a time when our ancestors’ knowledge of energy medicine is meeting the technology of modern science, helping us see that the mind, body, and spirit are all one. Take, for instance, these two evolving areas of medicine: psychoneuroendocrinology and psychoneuroimmunology. These scientific fields sit at the intersection of consciousness, nervous system function, and measurable physical health. Together they form much of the biological backbone for what energy medicine calls the mind-body-spirit connection.
Psychoneuroendocrinology (PNE)
Psychoneuroendocrinology (PNE) studies (see Sources & References, below) show that psychological states influence the nervous system’s regulation of hormones. Stress, grief, joy, and belief all trigger hormonal cascades of chemicals manufactured in the body like cortisol, oxytocin, and adrenaline that reshape metabolism, sleep, mood, and cellular repair. In energy medicine terms, this is how an emotion held in the body becomes a physical and measurable biochemical state.
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) studies (see Sources & References, below) show that thoughts and emotions communicate with the immune system via the nervous system. Chronic stress suppresses immune function, while positive emotional states, social connection, and beliefs can measurably enhance it, which explains why trauma, isolation, or meaning can literally make people sick or well.
How they relate to energy medicine: Both of these fields validate the core premise that mind, body, and spirit are not separate systems but a single dynamic network. Practices like meditation, breathwork, acupuncture, or energy healing are increasingly understood through PNE and PNI as interventions that shift neuroendocrine and immune signaling — not just metaphysically, but biochemically. The “energy” being moved may partly be the measurable flow of neuropeptides, cytokines, and hormones that these fields study.
Psychoneurobiological (PNB) Mechanisms
Psychoneurobiological (PNB) mechanisms like placebo (one’s positive expectations) and nocebo (one’s negative expectations) inform biological outcomes (see Sources & References, below). Together, PNB, PNE and PNI give conventional science a language for what healers and contemplative traditions have long described: that consciousness participates directly in the body’s physiology.
What Is the Foundational Energy Principle of Medicine?
The foundational energy principle of medicine holds that matter and energy are not separate categories of reality, and that living systems are fundamentally organized, regulated, and communicated through fields, frequencies, and dynamic energetic patterns – not just through linear biochemical molecular interactions. At the most elemental level, Einstein’s equivalence of mass and energy (E=MC²) means the physical body is energy in organized expression, and every cellular process – such as membrane signaling, DNA transcription, neural firing, cardiac rhythm – generates and responds to electromagnetic information.
Clinically speaking, disruptions in a living system’s energetic organization precede, accompany, and often underlie its biochemical dysfunction, which is why interventions that work at the level of field, frequency, resonance, or coherence can produce biological changes that molecular pharmacology alone cannot fully explain or replicate.
Perhaps most profoundly, the energy principle recognizes that consciousness itself is not a passive byproduct of biology but an active participant in the body’s regulatory systems – a position now supported by decades of psychoneuroimmunological research showing that thought, emotion, belief, and relational experience alter gene expression, immune function, and tissue repair in measurable, reproducible ways (See examples in Sources & References, below).
In this framing, healing is not simply the correction of a broken mechanism. It is the restoration of coherence – the return of a living system to its most integrated, self-organizing, and communicative energetic state.
How Do We Approach Energy in Conventional (Western) Medicine?
Like most things we study in Western medicine, our conventional models focus on the most observable types of energy that allow our bodies to perform work and maintain life. We use terms and techniques that capture measurable chemical functions, productivity, and metabolism, as well as patterns in electrical conductivity. Here are some examples:
- Cellular energy production – which is measured as ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
- Mitochondrial function – a process of converting food and oxygen into usable energy performed by the 100 quadrillion mitochondria in the average human body
- Metabolism – including all the known chemical processes that sustain life
- Electrical signaling – typically measured in nerves, muscles, and the heart activity
- Brain activity – measured through electrical patterns such as EEGs
Medical conditions often involve disruptions in energy production, including mitochondrial disorders, chronic infections, endocrine disorders, anemia, seizures, and metabolic diseases, to name a few. Experiencing fatigue, brain fog, muscle weakness, poor exercise tolerance, and slow healing are all symptoms that could be due to impaired energy production.
How Do We Approach Energy in Traditional Healing Systems?
Many traditional medical systems describe a form of life energy that is not measured in the same way as ATP or electricity. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is called qi (chi). In Ayurveda, it is related to prana. Various indigenous healing traditions describe similar concepts of life force, vitality, or spirit. These systems view health as the balanced flow of energy through the body, while illness may reflect stagnation, depletion, or imbalance.
Traditional medical systems look beyond the physicality of human beings to additional layers of identity, such as energetic fields (meridians, chakras, and biofields), the mental body (thoughts and beliefs), and intangible intuitive and spiritual bodies. Disruptions or blockages in any of these layers – whether from toxins, emotional trauma, environmental stress, genetic propensities, or inherited burdens – can impact wellness on all other levels.
How Is Energy Seen Through a Functional-Medicine Lens?
In functional medicine, “energy” is often viewed as a central indicator of health. Functional healthcare practitioners may investigate questions like the following:
- Are the cells and mitochondria of your body efficiently making energy?
- Does your body have access to the nutrients necessary for energy production?
- Is inflammation diverting energy away from growth and repair?
- Is the nervous system stuck in a chronic stress-energy-depleting loop?
- Are sleep and recovery adequate for energy production, utilization and repair?
From this perspective, symptoms can be seen as signals or messages from the body that vital energy is being redirected, depleted, or used inefficiently. It may be a call for help.
How Is Modern Science Bridging the Different Lenses of Energy Medicine?
Interestingly, modern science is uncovering attributes of physical systems, and how they communicate with each other (even in invisible ways) that may help explain some experiences traditionally described as “energy.” These systems include:
- The nervous system, autonomic nervous system, and the vagus nerve
- Our biochemical communication systems and bioelectric signaling between cells
- The all-encompassing connective tissue, extracellular matrix, and fascial networks
- Electromagnetic fields extending outside the body generated by the heart and brain
While these are measurable, they are not exactly equivalent to concepts such as qi or prana. However, the expanded view of each lens allows us to draw more connections.
What Is Meant by the Mind-Body-Spirit Principle?
The principle of mind-body-spirit refers to the understanding that human health and healing originate from the integration of our mental, physical, and spiritual selves. The mental aspects of the “mind” encompass our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, perceptions, memories, and attitudes. It is partially captured as the “psyche,” in system names (psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, and psychoneurobiology)
The “body” is defined by the physical vessels (skin, bones, muscles, blood, organs, even our DNA). These physical aspects encompass the expression and interplay of systems such as the immune, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems.
The “spirit,” meanwhile, is a more abstract dimension, referring to our drive for meaning and connection with something larger than ourselves such as community, humanity, the larger universe, or all of creation. This is the aspect of our being that is closely tied to the consciousness “field” of research (pun intended). Its influence is expressed in mind-body combined systems (psychoneuroimmunology and others).
To put it simply, true health is achieved not solely by addressing physical symptoms, but by acknowledging and tending to the whole person – a person’s thoughts, emotions, energy, and sense of meaning.
This holistic, “systems biology” view of health stands in contrast to “siloed” medicine models that treat health issues as separate, disconnected parts, dividing mind, body, and spirit, or focusing only on the physical body, or one aspect of it, while neglecting the profound ways the “parts” are interconnected and interdependent, and also forgetting that our mental and spiritual states impact overall health and healing.
Understanding the mind-body-spirit connection is particularly important for health coaches, therapists, and anyone involved in a healing journey. That includes parents who attend to the medical needs of children. By understanding this principle, we acknowledge that every aspect of a person’s being is interconnected and can influence recovery and wellness.
The Five-Levels-of-Healing Framework
Dietrich Klinghardt MD PhD’s Five Levels of Healing is a framework to systematize traditional principles of energy medicine into a modern holistic, mind-body-spirit approach. He teaches healthcare practitioners that there are five levels of healing; each corresponds to a different layer of the human being, with distinct and interconnected influences on health. He theorizes that physical manifestations of symptoms are the last to appear, and that symptoms are often preceded by disruptions in higher-level fields.
Physical Body
This level encompasses the tangible body—action, movement, biochemistry, structure, cellular health, and diet. It is affected by factors such as toxins, pathogens, nutritional deficiencies, and structural imbalances. This level is the one most commonly addressed by conventional- and functional-medicine practitioners. As such, they won’t be explored in depth in this article, but you can find out more about each by clicking on each of the hyperlinks.
Energy Body
This includes our nervous system, acupuncture meridians, chakras, and biophoton fields. Blockages here may arise from electrical pollution, environmental electromagnetic fields, scars or toxic metals disrupting energy flow.
Mental Body
This is where thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes reside. Unresolved emotional wounds, negative self-talk, and trauma can create energetic congestion, limiting healing on physical and energetic levels as well.
Intuitive Body (Family/Systemic Field)
Sometimes called the “morphological field,” this connects us with family and community systems. Inherited trauma or family secrets can pass down psychically and energetically, shaping destinies and health patterns until acknowledged and resolved.
Spiritual Body
The realm of connectedness, unity, and higher meaning. Healing here often comes through meditation, prayer, and practices fostering a sense of oneness with all life. The vital insight from this model is that healing must occur at the level where the blockage originates, and higher-level imbalances (such as inherited trauma or spiritual disconnect) can manifest as symptoms in lower levels (like physical illness).
As other healthcare modalities and approaches are discussed below, think about where in this framework they might fit and how each may affect other levels of healing. In addition, think about how your child’s symptoms may be affected by any or all these levels. In our experience, parents who address these higher levels with mind-body-spirit practices or energy medicine therapies often achieve deeper healing of their children’s symptoms.
Which Medical and Scientific Disciplines Are Based on The Principles of Mind-Body-Spirit and Energy Medicine?
In recent years, a wide array of medical and scientific disciplines has begun to systematically explore and build upon the mind-body-spirit principle while integrating a deeper understanding of energy medicine. Some of the most notable areas include:
Bioelectromagnetic Medicine
Bioelectromagnetic medicine works with the body’s endogenous electrical and magnetic fields – and with externally applied electromagnetic signals – to influence biological processes at the cellular and systemic level.
At the intersection of psychoneuroimmunology, studies have demonstrated that psychological stress alters the neuroendocrine-immune axis in ways that delay wound healing and suppress NK (Natural Killer) cell activity – findings that have motivated investigation into whether bioelectromagnetic interventions can interrupt these stress-driven cascades. (See Sources & References, below, for articles.)
Acupuncture
Acupuncture originated in China over 2,500 years ago, making it likely to be the earliest form of energy medicine. As part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is based on energy meridians in the body that are pathways of qi energy flow that moves continuously throughout the body. Any disruption of this flow of qi indicates an imbalance in the body that can manifest as symptoms. It has been well studied by modern medical researchers and has been found to be helpful for conditions such as pain, bedwetting, digestive discomfort, colds, influenza, fatigue, hormonal imbalances, stress, anxiety, infertility, depression, asthma, and other temporary or chronic health conditions. (See Sources & References, below, for articles.)
Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Therapy
In the United States, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy has moved well beyond fringe status. The FDA has cleared PEMF devices for bone healing and depression (via transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS). See Sources & References, below. PEMF devices such as mats, although somewhat expensive, are available for home use.
HeartMath®
Neurocardiology has contributed some of the most striking evidence in this category. Researchers at the HeartMath® Institute in Boulder Creek, California have documented (see Sources & References, below) that the heart generates an electromagnetic field measurable up to several feet from the body. This field changes measurably with emotional states, carrying information that influences the autonomic nervous system, cortical function, and immune parameters. The HeartMath® Institute teaches that heart-based practices bring greater harmony and coherence to oneself and to others. It also teaches people how to engage in this practice. The type of biofeedback training that they offer has been shown to directly affect the vagus nerve and improve heart rate variability (HRV), leading to lower levels of stress and anxiety.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has demonstrated positive effects on neuroplasticity, mood regulation, and cognitive function (see Sources & References, below). The broader field is also informed by the late Robert O. Becker’s foundational work showing that DC (Direct Current) electrical currents regulate tissue regeneration – a principle now embedded in standard orthopedic care.
Grounding
Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra MD brought this ancient practice to modern-day attention when he published his study Electric Nutrition: The Surprising Health and Healing Benefits of Biological Grounding (Earthing) in 2017. He showed that grounding, also known as earthing, can lower inflammation because it allows undischarged electrons to flow from the body to the earth. This effect can be achieved for free by placing feet on wet sand or grass, for example. In addition, there are numerous devices such as grounding sheets and mats that can offer the same benefit. See Sources & References, below, for more peer-reviewed research.
Biophotons and Biofields
Biophotons
Dr. Fritz Albert Popp’s research on “biophotons” reveals that our DNA emits light particles, enabling communication both within the body and with the external environment. These biophoton fields are implicated in health and illness. Coherent (well-organized) light emission is associated with health, while incoherence or blockage can signal disease.
Biofields
Biofield medicine works with the hypothesis – increasingly supported by biophysical measurement – that living organisms generate and are regulated by fields that extend beyond their physical boundaries and carry information relevant to health and healing.
Reiki
Reiki is classified as a biofield energy therapy, and we are calling it out here as a common example. Many people have likely experienced it, and peer-reviewed research (see Sources & References, below) shows that it can be effective in lowering symptoms of pain and anxiety.
Somatic / Touch-Based Therapies
Somatic and touch-based approaches engage the body’s nervous system directly through physical contact, movement, and external, proprioceptive input – recognizing that the body holds and processes experience in ways that cannot be reached by cognition alone.
Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch
Still more examples of these therapies are therapeutic touch and healing touch, both developed in the U.S. and now used in hundreds of hospitals. They have both been shown to lower symptoms of anxiety, pain, and cortisol levels (see Sources & References, below).
Massage Therapy
Perhaps most relevant to the neuroendocrine-immune axis is the growing body of research on massage therapy. Studies (see Sources & References, below) demonstrate that regular massage increases vagal tone, reduces cortisol, increases oxytocin, and elevates NK cell activity – a direct psychoneuroimmunological effect mediated through touch.
Mind-Body / Nervous System Regulation
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
One extensively studied category in U.S. academic medicine is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn’s at UMass Medical School in 1979. Its scientific foundation now spans psychoneuroimmunology, neuroendocrinology, and neurocardiology in ways that have fundamentally revised how medicine understands the relationship between a person’s psychological state and their biological function.
Some of the research catalyzed by MBSR include studies on how mindfulness modulates stress physiology and immune signaling, including improvements in inflammatory pathways and reductions in IL-6 or CRP in some populations. MBSR has been associated with changes in functional brain connectivity involving prefrontal regulatory networks. Various studies on MBSR, loving-kindness meditation, and social connection demonstrate how these approaches to health can reduce loneliness, alter gene expression, and downregulate pro-inflammatory immune cells (see Sources & References, below).
Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease, now reimbursable by Medicare and studied through the University of California San Francisco, demonstrated that comprehensive mind-body lifestyle intervention lengthens telomeres – a neuroendocrine-immune feat long considered impossible.
Vibrational / Frequency Medicine
Vibrational medicine operates on the principle that biological systems respond to frequency-based information, whether delivered through sound, light, electromagnetic oscillation, or resonant fields. It also holds that disease states correlate with disrupted frequency patterns that can be shifted therapeutically.
Sound Healing and Music Therapy
In the U.S., sound-healing research has gained academic footing through studies showing that music therapy programs are beneficial in improving neural connectivity, especially in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Other research in this area has examined how music engages the limbic system and autonomic nervous system to reduce cortisol, lower pain, improve sleep, and lower anxiety — a clear neuroendocrine pathway (see Sources & References, below, for relevant research).
Binaural Beats
Binaural beat audio technology – in which slightly different frequencies presented to each ear induce specific brainwave states. Research (see Sources & References, below) suggests that it has beneficial effects on memory, sleep, anxiety, focus, and pain perception (see Sources & References, below).
Photobiomodulation
Research on low-level laser therapy (LLLT, also known as photobiomodulation) has demonstrated that specific light wavelengths improve mitochondrial function, reduce neuroinflammation, and lower blood glucose. These mechanisms are now being applied to diabetes, depression, neuropathy, traumatic brain injury, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and ADHD (see relevant Sources & References, below).
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a healing modality based on the principle of “like heals like”. For example, allergy symptoms such as rapid-onset swelling, redness, and stinging or burning pain can be helped by taking Apis mellifica, a homeopathic remedy made from honeybees (Apis mellifera). Remedies can be made of varying dilutions (frequencies). The counterintuitive effect of homeopathy is that the more diluted a remedy is, the more powerful it can be. There are different systems of homeopathy such as constitutional homeopathy, homotoxicology, and Heilkunst homeopathy. Parents of children with conditions from autism to PANS/PANDAS and more have reported benefits of using homeopathy for their children. Research is beginning to bear this out (see Sources & References, below) for conditions such as depression, autoimmune disorders, eczema, sleep dysregulation, ear infections, migraines, anxiety, influenza, periodontitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and pain.
Intuitive Body (Family/Systemic Field)
This field of research maintains that a person’s morphological field can contain inherited trauma that can sometimes manifest as propensities.
Family Constellations
Family constellations therapy is predicated on the belief that there is a morphological field for each family that brings the unresolved trauma of ancestors (such as war, suicide, and slavery) down into the present-day family. This unresolved trauma can contribute to chronic health conditions. People who participate in these workshops often report a feeling of resolution and sometimes a dissipation of symptoms after an ancestor’s trauma is seen and understood. Research (see Sources & References, below) is beginning to bear this out.
Contemplative Studies / Mind-Spirit Integration
Meditation and Breathwork
Contemplative studies represent the formal academic investigation of practices such as meditation and breathwork. These practices work at the intersection of consciousness, meaning-making, and biological function. Studies (see Sources & References, below) have shown that people who participate in these practices demonstrate measurably improved immune function and mental state compared to controls. This may be due to the reduced anxiety, stress, and blood pressure that many of those who engage in these activities experience.
Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT)
The Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT) program is a secular, contemplative curriculum that demonstrated in peer-reviewed medical research that it reduces loneliness, improves symptoms of depression, increases compassion, lowers cortisol, and improves immune markers such as IL-6 and TNF-α. The psychoneuroimmunological research is striking: loneliness and lack of meaning are among the strongest predictors of inflammatory immune dysregulation, and contemplative practices that cultivate meaning, connection, and self-compassion directly counter those pathways at the molecular level (see Sources & References, below, for relevant research).
Prayer
Research has shown (see Sources & References, below) that those being prayed for (intercessory prayer) have significant improvement of depression, pain, self-esteem, autoimmune disorders, and anxiety, for example. These findings collectively suggest that practices long classified as “spiritual” are operating through the same neuroendocrine-immune networks that govern physical health – not as metaphors, but as mechanisms.
What Are Other Therapies for Mind-Body-Spirit and Energy Medicine?
The following is an illustrative list of therapies not all of which are mentioned above that draw on the mind-body-spirit and energy connections (each addressing one or more of the five levels of healing as articulated by Dr. Klinghardt):
Physical Therapies
Energy-Based Therapies
- Microcurrent therapies
- Autonomic response testing
- Jin shin jyutsu
- Kirlian photography
Mental-Emotional Therapies
- Psychotherapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Intuitive and Systemic Therapies
- Systemic homeopathy
- Sound and color therapy (Tibetan bowls, tuning forks)
Spiritual Therapies
- Devotional practices
- Chanting
- Contemplation
- Spiritual counseling
Referral to these therapies may be warranted when a client or patient does not improve through standard physical interventions, has a history of significant trauma (personal or family), exhibits recurring negative beliefs or patterns, or when there is strong intuition about issues beyond the physical. Importantly, integrative healing often requires simultaneous attention to several levels – for example, combining detoxification protocols with therapies to address emotional trauma or inherited burdens.
Where Is This View of Mind-Body-Spirit and Energy Medicine Taking Us?
In our reimbursable health systems today, there’s a tendency to focus more exclusively on the physical body – its structures, biochemistry, and mechanics, and to segregate or overlook challenges of mind, soul, spirit, and energy. While the material body is clearly an important aspect of care, it is only one layer of our being. Humans are not just physical bodies with symptoms. We are energetic beings, made up of light, frequencies, vibrations and information fields that communicate beyond mere physicality and beyond matter.
One way to think about medicines’ unifying principles is to seek to understand how the body acquires, transforms, stores, and directs energy on all levels. Every heartbeat, thought, emotion, movement, immune response, each stage of growth, removal, or recycling; every touch, all conscious or “unconscious” acts, every connection, change or transformation, the whole healing process, requires energy. Think of health reflecting the body’s ability to generate and allocate energy effectively, and illness emerging when that capacity is compromised or overwhelmed; when energy is stagnant, depleted, or imbalanced; when one or more of the interconnected interdependent biological systems (both seen and unseen) are not supported, or are overlooked, abused or ignored.
Through this expanding and coalescing lens, medicine is not only about eliminating disease. It is also about restoring the flow and availability of energy that supports growth, resilience, healing, and connection. It is consciously making sure that adults and children (and future generations) have the energy needed to live meaningful lives – for their physical bodies and minds to function well, for mental health to flourish, and for spirits to thrive.
In Summary
The mind-body-spirit and energy medicine principles mark a revolutionary paradigm shift in how we understand health and healing. By appreciating the seamless integration of mind, body, spirit, and energy, practitioners, parents and others can foster deeper, more enduring recovery and resilience. Scientific disciplines such as psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, neurocardiology, and others that consider mechanisms of psychoneurobiology are rapidly corroborating age-old wisdom that our thoughts, emotions, energy capacity, and sense of meaning directly impact physical health.
Adopting frameworks like the Five Levels of Healing equips us to recognize that healing must be as multi-dimensional as the human beings we seek to help. Illnesses that appear purely physical may have roots in emotional, energetic, systemic, or spiritual blockages. Addressing these layers – through ever-expanding toolkits and truly integrative therapies – offers new hope for those whom conventional medicine has failed to fully help.
Ultimately, as Nikola Tesla’s famous quote reminds us, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration – because it’s all energy.” Embracing this perspective enables health coaches, therapists, parents, practitioners and other individuals to support profound and lasting healing on all levels of the self.
About Heather Tallman Ruhm MD
Heather Tallman Ruhm MD is the Medical Director of the Documenting Hope Project. She is a Board Certified Family Physician whose primary focus is whole-person health and patient education. She draws on her conventional western training along with insights and skills from functional, integrative, bioregulatory and energy medicine. She believes in the healing capacities of the human frame and supports the power of self-regulation to help her patients recover and access vitality.
About Maria Rickert Hong CHHC
Maria Rickert Hong is a Co-Founder of, and the Education and Media Director for, Documenting Hope.
She is a former sell-side Wall Street equity research analyst who covered the oil services sector at Salomon Smith Barney and Lehman Brothers under Institutional Investor #1 ranked analysts.
Later, she covered the gaming, lodging & leisure sector at Jefferies & Co. and Calyon Securities. She quit working on Wall Street when her first son was born.
Prior to working on Wall Street, she was a marketing specialist for Halliburton in New Orleans, where she also received her MBA in Finance & Strategy from Tulane University.
She is the author of the bestselling book Almost Autism: Recovering Children from Sensory Processing Disorder and the co-author of Brain Under Attack: A Resource for Parents and Caregivers of Children with PANS, PANDAS, and Autoimmune Encephalitis. She is a co-author of Reversal of Autism Symptoms among Dizygotic Twins through a Personalized Lifestyle and Environmental Modification Approach: A Case Report and Review of the Literature, J. Pers. Med. 2024, 14(6), 641.
Maria is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. Her work can be found on DocumentingHope.com, Healing.DocumentingHope.com, Conference.DocumentingHope.com and MariaRickertHong.com
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