Transforming the face of psychiatry, Dr. Judith Orloff asserts that we are keepers of an innate intuitive intelligence so perceptive that it can tell us how to heal - and prevent - illness. Yet intuition and spirituality are the very aspects of our wisdom usually disenfranchised from traditional health care.

Dr. Orloff is accomplishing for psychiatry what physicians like Larry Dossey and Dean Ornish have done for mainstream medicine - she is proving that the links between physical health, mental well-being, and spiritual connectedness cannot be ignored. Affirming that intuition is the bond between these seemingly disparate areas of our lives, Dr. Orloff presents workshops and lectures at medical schools, hospitals, alternative health-care forums, and mainstream and experimental educational institutions - venues where she can offer hands-on, workable intuitive tools to medical practitioners, patients, everyday people.

Dr. Orloff is a board-certified psychiatrist and a practicing
intuitive. She is also the author of the bestseller "Guide to Intuitive Healing" and "Second Sight". Her third book "Positive Energy," is due out from Harmony Books in April 2004. Dr. Orloff is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and an international workshop leader. Her work has been featured on CNN, PBS, A&E and NPR. For more information about Judith's books and workshops visit www.drjudithorloff.com

SG = Soul Graffiti
JO = Dr. Judith Orloff

SG: WHAT IS AN INTUITIVE?

JO: I am a traditional psychiatrist and an intuitive. That means I combine my traditional medical training with intuitions I receive about my patients--a balance of the linear and intuitive minds. When a patient comes in I listen to what they say, but I also tune into images, impressions, sights, smells, sounds, sends of energy, dreams. I combine all this information in my diagnosis and treatment of patients.

SG: WHAT HAS BEING AN INTUITIVE TAUGHT YOU?

JO: It has opened up my entire universe about how I treat patients and lead my life. Our linear minds process only a fraction of information. Intuition opens us up to worlds the linear mind could never grasp--how to love, the nature of death, that the spirit lives on, the power of our bodies to heal beyond what traditional science deems possible. Being an intuitive lets me give my patients feedback about healing that addresses mind, body and spirit. It has given me courage around both my parent's death beds to help them pass over, and then feel their spirits afterwards. It lets me take in the beauty of flowers in my body, and to feel the sky, and to dream, to dream.

SG: CAN INTUITION HELP PEOPLE TO CONNECT AND OVERLOOK OUR DIFFERENCES?

JO: Intuition teaches us that there is a oneness between all sentient beings, that we are brothers and sisters sharing this time-space experience together. It can an must help us overlook differences. I pray more of the world can see this before it is too late. Or perhaps a galactic event such as an asteroid would have to bring the people of the earth together as one community.

SG: AS A PSYCHIATRIST AND MEDICAL INTUITIVE, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENTAL ILLNESS AND OTHER BODILY ILLNESSES?

JO: I wrote my book Guide to Intuitive Healing to address the physical and emotional areas of our lives with intuition. Please refer to the chapter "If Illness Comes." Each illness has a particular energetic configuration. Mental illness differs from physical illness in that way. Pancreatic cancer has one set of lessons to teach whereas major depression has another. But no matter what illness you deal with, the challenge is always to open the heart--to be more compassionate with your self, your body, and others.

SG: SOUL GRAFFITI TEACHES PEOPLE TO BE CONSCIOUS AND MINDFUL OF KINDNESS. WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS AND CAN DEVELOPING INTUITION ASSIST WITH THIS?

JO: The goal of intuition is to teach your heart to open, to be kind to yourself and others--to not beat yourself up so much. My spiritual teacher says that day by day we must be kinder to ourselves, be less critical or denigrating. This is hard in view of the voracious negative voices in the head we must contend with. But that is the spiritual work for all of us. I have devoted an entire chapter in my new book Positive Energy to dealing with the negative voices in our heads. It's a path to emotional freedom.

SG: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE KEY TO A MEANINGFUL LIFE AND HOW DOES ONE ACCESS THAT KEY?

JO: The alpha and omega of a meaningful life is to come from the heart. This is a literal energy in the mid-chest that you can access through meditation and acts of kindness. The heart is the key to happiness. Without the heart opening, happiness is impossible. Our lives need to prioritize this goal above all others.

SG: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR SOUL GRAFFITI FAMILY?

JO: I want you to trust your intuition and power of the heart. Don't let anyone, no matter who they are, talk you out of it. Don't let anyone make you small. Let your spirit soar and have fun