Ontology

"The Study of Being"

Mind • Body • Soul

What is love? (ontology)

and

What causes love to flourish or fail? (etiology)

What is wisdom? (ontology)

and

What causes wisdom to emerge? (etiology)

What is healing? (ontology)

and

What causes healing to occur? (etiology)

Most systems ask:

What disease does this person have?

My work often begins with a different question:

What has happened to this person's relationship with life itself?

For more than thirty years, I have observed that health challenges rarely exist in isolation.

The body affects the mind.

The mind affects the body.

The environment affects both.

Relationships influence physiology.

Stress alters biology.

Meaning affects resilience.

Love influences healing.

And when enough layers become disrupted at the same time,

The person can begin to lose coherence.

Then I would bring in the ontology material.

What Is an Ontological Approach to Health?

Ontological refers to the nature of being, existence, or reality itself.

At its root:

• Onto = being

• Logy = study

Ontology literally means:

The study of being.

Most healthcare systems focus on symptoms, diagnoses, pathology, and management.

An ontological approach asks deeper questions:

• What happened to the structure of this person's life?

• What altered their ability to experience vitality?

• What disrupted their relationship with themselves?

• What fractured their connection to nature, purpose, love, truth, or spirit?

• What would help restore coherence?

relationship to the body,

relationship to truth,

relationship to nature,

relationship to God,

relationship to love,

relationship to self,

relationship to time and rhythm,

relationship to reality itself.

cardiology studies the heart

neurology studies the brain

gastroenterology studies digestion

psychiatry studies mood

endocrinology studies hormones

rheumatology studies joints

followed by:

grief

toxicity

nervous system overload

nutritional collapse

spiritual despair

environmental assault

relational trauma

circadian disruption

loss of meaning

inflammatory physiology

social isolation

...and that is just for starters