A Neverending Education
Back in the 1960s when I was still in high school, I became interested in the mysteries of human healing. I spent summers working in the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in both the ER and the Intensive Care Unit. Some of the patients who had been pronounced terminal turned around, while others who were given an excellent prognosis went into tailspins and left this earthly abode. It was enough to make a guy wonder.
Completely unfamiliar with chiropractic or other forms of natural, alternative, or as it later became known complementary medicine or healing, I gravitated toward procuring a medical education. With an excellent academic record (1971 Valedictorian, George Washington H.S.) I was accepted into a pre-med program AND medical school before graduation. If I had stayed with that program, I would have been an M.D. at the ripe old age of 22. As destiny would have it, I was attracted to exploring more radical ideas about psychic healing, dietary cures, exercise and meditation. I wound up with a degree in psychology and a lot of questions.
In 1975, I attended a lecture by a chiropractor about the philosophy and science behind chiropractic work and I was hooked! Everything he said made so much sense to me that I felt I had found my calling. I was particularly taken with the concept that the body is designed to be self regulating and self healing, and that the doctor of chiropractic is supposed to remove the obstacles to that self-healing. In January of 1976, I enrolled in the Texas Chiropractic College in Pasadena Texas. I graduated and started practice in 1979. I still had plenty of questions, but I also had some answers.
Since starting practice, I have had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge that could help me get better clinical results. I count myself among the lucky few who really love their work. I have been fortunate enough to study with a number of healing arts pioneers from a variety of disciplines who have demonstrated unusual degrees of insight and intuition. Several of their techiques and methods that I use in my practice take years to master. While over the years I have taken dozens of workshops and classes, I have chosen to specialize in the few methods that have really proven themselves to me over time with thousands of patients. The extra work, time, and money I invested have been most worth while. I discuss these methods in detail on the Our Work with You page.
I've been blessed with a large international clientele which includes Oscar-winning actors, top martial artists, dancers, and professional athletes; and rock groups like Chicago and America, as well as many doctors and natural therapists. I also lived in India for 2 years and learned about the special requirements for treating people who are actively pursuing yoga, meditation, and spiritual practice. During my stay, I used chiropractic methods to help some of the country's poorest rural villagers on a charitable basis under the auspices of the Prasad Project. I was part of a multidisciplinary team that travelled from location to location on a mobile hospital bus to provide desperately needed care.
In 2003, my family and I relocated from our home in New York State to Texas. When I encountered a patient named Jackie Kidder, I realized at an entirely new level just how powerful a healing modality Bio Cranial Therapy is.
In Mark's words: "My wife (Jackie), was a very active and physically fit woman who felt great physically and mentally. She loved life! She worked out 4-5 days a week with hour long aerobics classes and a weight training plan. She ate healthy, didn't smoke, took no medication at all. She cut the grass, washed the cars, cooked every night, and kept the house neat as a pin. In short, she was unstoppable!
On July 23, 1995 while looking for a birthday card in a Wal-Mart in Katy, TX, she lifted up her head and "saw stars." She was in so much pain, she had to sit on the floor in the store for about 15 minutes. She left the cards behind and barely made it home. At that moment our lives were instantly changed forever."
Jackie endured nine years of pain from unrelenting fibromyalgia and horrific migraines. Later she developed restless leg syndrome. The Kidders visited specialist after specialist: multiple pain management doctors, neurologists and neurosurgeons and holistic practitioners, including team physicians in a futile attempt to find some relief for her and restore her to a healthy and pain free state. She took all kinds of drug cocktails, that included Carisoprodol (SOMA, a powerful muscle relaxer) and LORTAB (an addictive pain medication) and Imitrex self-injections for the migraines. As her condition worsened, she was prescribed morphine patches like the ones used for terminal cancer patients. When medications like these and, Celebrex, Xanax and Elevel were ineffective, she even underwent catheterization to deliver steroids to the point of pain. Mark's long version of her journey may be found on this web page.
After nine years of suffering and over $100,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, Jackie's problems were solved through the Bio Cranial Therapy she received in my office within a very short time. She currently sees me on a very infrequent basis for maintenance care. It has been a privilege to work with the Kidders, who have generously guided many other fibromyalgia patients to me and to other trained and certified Bio Cranial Practitioners.
I currently practice in Houston, Texas, and live in the country north of town with my family. I am involved in promoting Bio Cranial Therapy, and in training forward thinking doctors from every discipline in this unique healing art. I have been a member of numerous professional speaking associations, and have completed a book with other authors, including Deepak Chopra and Billy Blanks, entitled, A Healthier You! which was released in the Summer of 2005.
In 2008, I was inducted into the World Organization of Natural Medicine Practitioners (WONMP). For a more comprehensive Curriculum Vitae, you can view or download this .PDF file on my background and credentials.