Chinese Medicine Notes

Dr. Leon Hammer

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Yael

I was lucky enough to have a short correspondence with Dr. Leon Hammer, a psychiatrist turned CM practitioner.
Those who don’t know Dr. Hammer should really update their knowledge about the man who contributed an amazing book to our shelves, a book called “Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies“. In the book he shows, among other things, how CM can be used to treat the Shen, and he brings us Dr. Shen’s theory- his own teacher and mentor.

Dr. Hammer was born in the USA on 1922.
During the years between 1948-1970 he dedicated himself to psychoanalysis and psychiatry, in which he studied the treatment of children, various psychological approaches (Gestalt for example) and Hypnosis.
In 1971 he started studying Chinese Medicine with Dr. Van Buren.
In 1974, Dr. Hammer met Dr. Shen, his biggest influence in CM. Until 1989, Dr. Hammer studied many aspects of CM such as Auriculotherapy, Chinese Herbs, 5 Elements and more.

We should mention that Dr. Hammer also has Shiatsu, Yoga, Tai Chi and Kinesiology under his belt.

At 1990, Dr. Hammer retired from his private clinic, but continued to lecture in the US and around the world including Spain, Poland, Italy, Holland, Germany, England, Australia and Japan.

Since 1980, Dr. Hammer wrote many articles, and in 1990 he published “Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies” (DRRBF), which became a classic. In 2001, he published his second book, Chinese Pulse diagnosis, A Contemporary Appraoch.

In 2001, Dr. Hammer was one of the founders of Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine, and served as the chairman and consultant.

Dr. Hammer was 84 when I wrote him, and I found him very busy with various projects, yet he found the time to answer my questions and for that I am very grateful.

Chinese Medicine Notes (CMNotes): How did you decide to study Psychology? What made you choose Psychiatry?
Dr. Leon Hammer (L.H): I have wanted to be a physician since I was two years old. I went through many phases of how that was defined by society including attending a scientific high school and majoring in chemistry in college and zoology as a minor. It was in college, after the war, that I became aware of my psychological being with psychological issues and in addressing them I realized that my interest was in that aspect of health rather than in conventional medicine. Instead of science I found myself interested in literature, history, theology, philosophy and even economics. I was interested in people. Since I still wished to be a physician and could think of no other path in life, I chose psychiatry as the aspect of medicine closest to my personal interests.

CMNotes: What do you think are the benefits of a psychological treatment?
L.H: The answer to this question would take several books. Psychological treatment ultimately has the same goal as all esoteric religions, to enhance self-awareness.

CMNotes: After all the work that you did in psychology and psychiatry, you started studying Chinese Medicine. How did that happen? How did you meet up with CM?
L.H: In 1971 I took a sabbatical from my work and my family and lived in England for six months. I went for an opportunity for personal growth that was not possible working 70 hours a week. I had known for some years that what was lacking in psychological talking therapies was the absence of touch but found that touch in bioenergetics was more of an attack than a healing contact. In England I met someone who taught me a form of massage and after we were acquainted for a while, confided in me that they were studying acupuncture. They offered to introduce me to their teacher and I accepted. Though I knew nothing about Chinese medicine, somehow, with the first step into his office I knew that I was what I had always meant when I said that I want to be a physician. I never intended to practice Chinese medicine. I was 47 years old and well established in psychology and psychoanalysis. It was after two years while on vacation that I received a frantic call from a psychologist in a nearby town to see a patient who was manic, who had not slept for three weeks, and who was driving him and a therapy group to which she belonged crazy. I saw her. For two and one half hours she spoke at me in French. I could not get a word in edgewise until I suddenly recalled that acupuncture was popular in France. I broke in and asked her if she would like acupuncture, and with a thick French accent she exclaimed