Michael Greenwood trained at St. John's College, Cambridge, and St.
Mary's Hospital, London, and practiced Family Medicine in Victoria for
many years. His interest in deep healing arose out of his own
experience of chronic pain, which began with a motorcycle accident
while he was a medical student. The pain, unresponsive to all that
conventional medicine could offer, forced him to face the limits of his
own medical training. His search for an answer led him on a fascinating
journey to a new understanding of health and illness, stress and deep
inner tensions, and how they affect our lives. Many of those insights
were recorded in Michael's first book, Paradox & Healing: medicine, mythology and transformation, co-authored with Dr. Peter Nunn and first published in 1992.
Michael's explorations into alternative approaches led him to study Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and meditation before they became generally fashionable. He was one of the founding staff-members of the Canadian College of Chinese Studies, where in addition to teaching, he initiated a research study into the use of acupuncture for post-MVA chronic pain. That research gradually evolved into the highly successful residential program at the Victoria Pain Clinic. His second book, Braving the Void: journeys into healing, arose out of his experiences at the Pain Clinic, where he developed many of the interactive techniques discussed more fully in The Unbroken Field: the power of intention in healing.
In 1993, Michael gave up his Family Practice to devote his time to people suffering from chronic pain and other chronic illnesses. Currently, he is the Medical Director of the Victoria Pain Clinic and he teaches East-West Medicine at the Pacific Rim College.