Welcome to Shore Health System's Center for Integrative Medicine
The Center for Integrative Medicine, established in the year 2000, is a department of Shore Health System, which in turn is part of the University of Maryland Medical System. Our mission is to provide the best possible health care to our patients, and to do so in a warm, personal, and caring way. One of our strengths is that all treatments are monitored for quality by the manager in order to promote safety and quality of our work. In addition, further oversight is provided by a Board of Advisors which includes a number of Shore Health System doctors. All aspects of our program, including infection control and patient management, are monitored for quality and safety in strict accordance with national hospital standards, including those of the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) which provides accreditation to all hospitals in the U.S.
As ranked by a national healthcare survey, we consistently earn 97-98% patient satisfaction scores. We welcome you to the Center, and hope that your experience is productive and satisfying.
A Variety of Services
The following information is offered to give you a sense of the wide range of services and opportunities available at the Center. We believe that one the benefits of the Center is that different types of treatment can be combined to help increase the chances of a successful outcome for you. We have found that using a combination of the various services can be useful for many individuals.
Every method, whether conventional or holistic, has its strengths and limitations. So combining different treatments can help with the speed of progress and the effectiveness of each treatment's effects. We generally advise, however, that you start with one method for about a month before adding another, so your practitioners can tell which method is responsible for your progress.
- Acupuncture
Acupuncture can be helpful for a variety of conditions, but most notably, it can help improve the body's ability to improve as a whole. So whether you are perfectly healthy, or suffering from specific medical conditions, acupuncture can improve your overall sense of wellbeing, your energy levels, and moods. Originating in China over 3,000 years ago, it is based on the idea that there is an energy system in the body that affects our health, and treatments are designed to improve the condition of this energy system.
- Massage
All of our massage therapists have been screened for their ability to give an excellent massage. A series of sessions can be useful not only for deep relaxation, but also for muscle and joint stiffness, aches, and pains. Many people enjoy coming once or twice a month, or even more often, for health maintenance. In addition, massage can also be a nurturing experience: there are psychological benefits to being touched in a caring manner. We offer a variety of techniques including Swedish massage and deep tissue massage.
- Meditation
Our meditation program has been successful in helping participants in reducing pain, improving mood, reducing stress, and improving the quality of awareness in daily living. The method taught is called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and is taught two to three times a year as an eight-week course. In addition, individual lesson packages are available. Individual meditation instruction is also available.
- Psychotherapy
We offer a variety of approaches in psychotherapy. They include Bonding Psychotherapy, which is designed to change emotions, behaviors and cognitions originating from dysfunctional interactive patterns in early life. We also offer EMDR, (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which can be helpful for conditions such as anxiety, depression, phobias, and self-esteem issues. It is being used with increasing frequency for the treatment of psychological conditions that are associated with trauma. Another is the Rubenfeld Synergy Method, a psychotherapeutic modality which combines talk, gentle touch and the use of a body work table.
