Evarts G. Loomis - American Holistic Medical Association

American Holistic Medical Association

In 1977, doctors C. Norman Shealy, Gladys Taylor McGarey, Bill McGarey, and Gerald Looney gathered at Meadowlark to lay the foundation for the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA), which led to the first conference held the following year in Denver, Colorado. Evarts remembers discussions about the spelling of holistic. "Was it to be with a 'w' or an 'h'? We decided on the 'h', since it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word 'hal', which is the root of health, whole, holy, and heal, and is thus more inclusive."

At the time of Meadowlark's 25th anniversary celebration in 1983, Dr. Shealy, founding president of AHMA, designated Evarts as the "father (and grandfather) of holistic medicine" and stated that Meadowlark had served as a role model for most of the people in the holistic movement. In 1995, Evarts received the AHMA Pioneer Award, which recognizes outstanding contributors to the holistic health movement. Previous recipients include Dr Linus Pauling and Bill Moyers. Evarts is also a founding diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine (ABHM), which offered its first exam in conjunction with the University of Colorado Medical School in 2000. Evarts, with Rev. J. Sig Paulson, authored one of the first books on holistic medicine, Healing for Everyone: Medicine of the Whole Person6, a classic work on the art of medicine, which is in its second paperback reprinting. He also wrote a biography of his mother and most important spiritual teacher, entitled Amy, The Search for the Treasure Within 7 and published excerpts from her manuscript "Lessons for the Aquarian Age" under the title, To Self Be True 8. In addition to writing books and articles, Evarts filmed many of the European teachers he met on his world trip. His film, Healing the Whole Person 9, includes the only images of the "father of psychosynthesis," Roberto Assagioli, MD.