February 11, 2008 Alternative and traditional healing in Newton, Mass. Play video

(NECN) - The Osher Center in Newton, Massachusetts combines the worlds of alternative therapy with traditional medical care.

Physician David Eisenberg founded the clinic, which is a validation of his life's work. Eisenberg went overseas as a medical student in the 1970s to study Chinese medicine. His first exposure to massage, meditation and herbal medicine prompted him to wonder. The clinic was born out of a five-year study on the effectiveness of complementary therapies underwritten by the National Institutes of Health.

The clinic's medical director, Dr. Donald Levy, says there are plenty of respected complementary practitioners all over New England, but there are also many who are unlicensed or not properly trained. He says it is key that Osher clinicians are in one place and that they post all of the patient care notes on shared medical records.

The Osher team doesn't shun western medicine. A Harvard Medical School physician, Levy knows well the value of technology, but says often patients can be empowered with low-tech solutions. He says the body has a natural ability to correct itself and heal, so the key is to nudge the natural ability.

The doctors and the practitioners at the Osher Center want the work they do to be center of research, setting the pace for integrated health all over the world.

NECN's Ally Donnelly has more.