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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Dr. Steve Chee, 9730 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 102, Beverly Hills, CA (2025)

12/24/2022

~Honor 2022 before creating new intentions for 2023~

Happy Winter Solstice! Hi, I’m Dr. Steve Chee, I’m an integrative east-west medicine physician and certified IFS therapist. In working with people to clarify intentions, it is sometimes important to first honor where we have been first. Nature provides wonderful guidance in this regard.

For those in the northern hemisphere, nature at this time of year reveals the longest periods of night. Some animals hibernate. Plant growth slows or seemingly ends. Things need to end or complete before the spring and newness begins yet again.

And in the same way that nature reveals it’s cycles of growth and completion it’s important to honor 2022 before new intentions for 2023.

Some dreams and intentions we had in 2022 came to fruition. These we want to celebrate and be grateful for the produce they have provided. Honor the courage, the perseverance, and the willingness to dream and to step forward. And also bless and thank the luck and good fortune that may have seemed to grace our endeavors.

That is usually the easy part for most.

But also, it’s important to honor the dreams and intentions that we had for 2022 that did not come to fruition. Can we honor the disappointment and the sadness as well? It can be a bitter cold and may be hard to swallow. But can we let the warm hearth of our heart touch the parts of us that feel disappointed or sad? It’s important to let these parts of us have the space to be seen and witnessed. It WAS a beautiful idea or dream. It WAS important at that time and sometimes our parts just need the space to lay fallow for a period of time. Just like nature.

And just as the warmth of the sun and the lengthening of the days brings forth the light of life yet again, the light of our hearts will reveal our next dreams and hopes for 2023.

Many blessings to you all

12/17/2022

~Why trust is the most important first step to Self care~

12/09/2022

Why I don't like the term over responsibility

10/24/2021

~How a spiritual context offers hope for chronic pain~

I’m a physician that bridges Eastern and Western medicine, helping people address the root causes of dis-ease utilizing multiple modalities that are based on a spiritual context.

There are so many challenges to chronic pain but one of the biggest challenges that I see is not knowing what’s causing it, not knowing how to fix it, and nothing being able to help it.

And while research has shown that our thoughts and emotions can be contributors to chronic pain (specifically, painful thoughts, pain-related fears and unresolved emotional pain), I often find that there’s still a deeper and more profound opportunity.

Which is why I like to bring in a spiritual context to this conversation. If at our essence, we are spiritual beings having a human experience (as the French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has said), then what purpose could something like chronic pain be serving?

If symptoms (including pain) weren’t just problems to be gotten rid of, but messengers with an inherent wisdom, what could it be saying?

And if life is ultimately for our growth, healing and evolution what role might chronic pain play?

I find that bringing in this level of exploration to the healing journey can be profoundly nurturing to the soul.

And there’s a deeper soul awareness and aliveness that can come through the healing of chronic pain. I know this in my heart to be true, because I’ve seen this both in my own personal experience with chronic pain and in those that I’ve had the blessing of working with.

And even let’s look at what research has shown. We know from research that all of the following all reduce physical pain:

1. Ascribing a positive meaning to a painful experience
2. Being aware of our emotions and giving ourselves permission to express our feelings, positive and negative
3. Feeling more connected to ourselves, and feeling more connected to others
4. Letting go of old hurts and trauma from our past
5. Being more compassionate with ourselves and others

I believe that all of this helps illuminate how healing chronic pain is related to living more fully from our Self. And how profound it is to awaken to the realization that our essential nature is love. I hope you find this helpful and hopeful.

09/30/2021

This is what I discuss with patients and clients about the COVID vaccines

09/12/2021

~How a Spiritual context can help address irritable bowel syndrome~

I’m a physician that bridges Eastern and Western medicine, helping people address the root causes of dis-ease utilizing multiple modalities that are based on a spiritual context.

Irritable bowel syndrome, from a Western medicine perspective, does not have an organic cause to explain the symptoms. Most integrative medicine interventions are based around lifestyle change (in particular modifying stress, changing diet, and taking supplements or probiotics).

Most of the time, people are looking to “fix” the situation or a linear cause and effect relationship. And this isn’t bad, wrong, or useless, I often make these types of recommendations!

But a spiritual context helps give a broader more comprehensive view and sees that this isn’t a problem to be fixed, but a hidden blessing to be realized.

A spiritual context takes a view that symptoms aren’t just problems to be gotten rid of, but messengers of a deeper learning.

A spiritual context takes a view that we aren’t broken in need of fixing, but may be imbalanced and in need of healing by remembering and experiencing our inherent wholeness.

So where is the imbalance? In Chinese medicine, irritable bowel syndrome is related to frustration, anger, worrying and overthinking. It can be useful to consider, what am I frustrated or angry about? What am I worried about?

And most importantly, how am I feeling towards that anger or worry? Are we trying to get rid of it or avoid it? I bring this up because we also know from Western medicine, that many people who have irritable bowel syndrome also have alexithymia.

Alexithymia means people may have a hard time identifying and expressing emotions. Some people don’t realize that there is an emotional component or want to avoid looking at the degree to which their emotions are playing into it.

And finally, from a spiritual context, it can be fruitful to explore: What am I having trouble digesting in my life? Where am I feeling powerless? And not supported?

I recently saw a new patient with irritable bowel syndrome, and we were discussing his food sensitivity testing results and implementing diet change. He became very stressed and agitated with the thought of having to change his diet.

Why? Because he didn’t feel that his wife would support the diet change. In fact, she would actively dismiss his health fears and concerns, in general, so much so he didn’t even want to bring this up to her.

This ended up bringing forward a much bigger issue of him not feeling supported in intimate relationships, a pattern he has experienced his whole life. This deeper pattern reveals how a spiritual context can help us to see what are the core issues we took embodiment for to learn from and to heal. Because the truth is, these situations can be utilized as a doorway to help us realize that our Self can be a limitless inner resource of support and loving.

09/04/2021

How the Self / Soul can help one to stop trying to relax, to simply relaxing

08/29/2021

~What’s up with drooling? A Western medicine, Eastern medicine, and Soul medicine perspective~

One thing that I love to do is discuss Western medicine (WM) and Chinese medicine (CM) so that we can live more connected to our Self / Soul. And today we will explore the very common, slightly gross, but frequently ignored symptom, drooling!

From a WM perspective, drooling really is only talked about when more significant disease has already taken hold. Like drooling because someone had a stroke. Or drooling because there’s an abscess on a tonsil and it hurts to swallow (this can be a sign of a significant infection, by the way, and one should seek medical evaluation). In these cases, drooling is really due to some other disease process.

Also, this post is not intended for diagnosis or treatment, so please seek individualized medical guidance.

But what about drooling in someone who is otherwise “healthy”? Is it “normal”? Some people have drooled a lot since they were children and were likely told it was nothing.

CM is so fascinating because it helps us look at physiological processes in a whole different way than WM and it can identify mind-body-spirit imbalances that WM doesn’t. In CM, drooling is often a symptom of the spleen. Don’t let the usage of the term spleen be confusing. I’ll call it the CM spleen because it doesn’t necessarily overlap with the western understanding of the spleen.

The CM spleen is related to mental activity. Obviously, mental activity isn’t bad, but too much? This can lead to CM spleen weakness or overuse. And what could be a symptom? That’s right, drooling!

Sometimes, excessive mental activity can show up as worrying too much, or sometimes it can be related to excessive reading, studying or working too much. Whatever it is, intense mental activities without enough of a break. And why does this cause drooling? Because the CM spleen is related to balancing body fluids, and drooling can be a sign that the CM spleen is being taxed.

For example, at the risk of oversharing, I used to drool a lot at night. I never thought anything about it because well, in my training to be an MD it wasn’t talked about! But because of my training in CM, I understood it’s a symptom of too much mental activity.

So how does this relate to living more connected to our Soul / Self? One key is to explore how we are using our mind. There’s a great principle that I’ve heard from two of my mentors in Spiritual Psychology, Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick, the mind is a tool to be used in service to the heart. Having our mental activity in greater alignment with the joy and love of the heart is a process worth exploring because in CM the heart houses the Soul / Self.

And what could that look like? Taking time to resolve and heal relationship conflicts instead of worrying about them. Living a life with greater purpose and meaning. Moving the body in a way that sparks inner joy. Spending time in meditation to deepen the experience and awareness that we are love itself. And as for my drooling? My wife is grateful that I rarely if ever drool now!

08/20/2021

~Can the Self / Soul help with concerns about getting the COVID vaccine?~

Recently, I’ve had several conversations with people expressing their concerns about getting the COVID vaccine. First off, I’m not interested in lobbying for a particular point of view, nor saying who or what is right or wrong. I’ve got no agenda here, and this isn’t about whether or not I’ve been vaccinated because I don’t want readers to question whether or not there is any ulterior motive.

I am interested in inviting people to explore what is surfacing with regards to the COVID vaccines. What I’ve been hearing from people is various forms of inner conflict. For example, an inner pressure to get the vaccine because their employer is mandating a COVID vaccine. That coupled with a part that is staunchly opposed to getting vaccinated. Both sides of this inner conflict have their points of view, born out of real life experience and real life consequences. And each part inside, has an attachment to that perspective.

Why is that relevant? Because, as the Buddha has said, the root of all suffering is attachment. The Self / Soul, on the other hand, has no agenda and is also free from attachment. And when we are connected to our True Self, there is clarity, compassion for self and others, as well as the courage to face uncertain situations.

Inner conflict exists because we aren’t trusting. We aren’t trusting ourselves, the situation, etc. We aren’t connected to our Self. So the parts of us are looking and seeking outside of ourselves for security, comfort or control in any way they can.

But what if we took a u-turn instead of looking outward at the world and looked inside? What if we got curious and asked these parts of ourselves, why is it so important for each part inside to have that position? What would happen if the part that has that position didn’t hold onto that?

Usually, these parts of us are holding onto a position because they are wanting to protect us from feeling something negative, like fear, anger or some other pain or old wound.

What if we could heal the underlying fear, anger or hurt that is driving these protectors? There’s a beautiful Rumi quote that says, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.” This is a field of infinite compassion and understanding. And the Self can be a resource to the parts inside of us that may be conflicted about the vaccine or can assist in healing old hurts.

Patients and clients have been asking me for my opinion about whether or not they should get the vaccine. But before making that decision, what if one healed what was being triggered by the choice about the COVID vaccine first?

08/14/2021

Why my life purpose is medicine from the Soul

08/06/2021

~Why the Soul / Self is the key to healing and health~

There is a beautiful quote from Rumi that says, “Soul, a moving river. Body, the riverbed.” As a physician, I know and recommend interventions and treatments that affect the “riverbed” level. This can absolutely be helpful! But as a spiritual seeker, who has also had my own kundalini awakening some 17 years ago, I also know how this moving river that is our Soul is vital to healing and health.

The most important text on Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, was written over 2200 years ago and states that one of the keys to longevity is keeping “the body united with the soul”.

So what does this even look like? And how can this be helpful to healing and health? Our soul, our divine sacred essence, has been spoken of by esoteric traditions for millennia and is innate to each of us. Here’s some examples of where I see this as useful for health and healing:

1. Health issues often surface an underlying fear of being alone or being separated. Having access to an inner spiritual connection that transforms fear into oneness can be profound.

2. Health issues also often surface deep questions of why me or feelings of guilt and shame. The Self can meet these questions and provide clarity and perspective in a way that invokes compassion and restores one’s sense of innocence.

3. Health issues also can surface helplessness or hopelessness of a life lost. The Self has the courage to reach into these dark depths within and the ability to retrieve what was once thought to be lost forever.

4. Health issues can surface aspects of us that feel conditionally loved. We are loved or worthy of love only when we act or behave a certain way, and otherwise we feel bad or worthless. The Self is our anchor to unconditional love and our doorway to experiencing this Rumi quote: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.”

These are but a few examples of how I see the Soul / Self as a key to healing and health. How else is the Soul a key to health and healing? Please feel free to comment below.

Dr. Steve Chee

12/24/2022

12/17/2022

12/09/2022

10/24/2021

09/30/2021

09/12/2021

09/04/2021

08/29/2021

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08/14/2021

08/06/2021

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Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm