The following selection is an excerpt from the book, A Healer Among Us by Jon Stevens. It is only a small part of the chapter entitled, Healer To The Stars.
When the buzz of Douglas' success as a healer had made its rounds, Hollywood celebrities came to him with increasing frequency. One of the first to benefit from word-of-mouth referral was Diane Ladd. The popular actress, best known for character portrayals in films such as Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Chinatown and Rambling Rose, heard about Douglas' amazing healing ability from best-selling author Jess Steam. The writer, renowned for his books on metaphysics (Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet, Soul Mates, Yoga, Youth And Reincarnation, etc.), had been interviewing Douglas as one of the featured psychics in his latest book, The Miracle Workers. When he heard Miss Ladd was suffering allergic reactions brought on by emotional stress, he recommended Douglas' treatments as the likely cure to her problem. Being open-minded, and having considered for years the viability of alternative healing methods, she made an appointment. It was the beginning of a long relationship with Douglas, both personal and professional, lasting to the present day.
After the first treatment with Douglas, Diane's adverse symptoms were greatly reduced, and she scheduled another appointment. After four treatments, she felt so much better, she did not have to take any more allergy medication and was able to work and function as normal.
I could feel the energy from Doug's hands coming into me," Diane recalled. "From that day to the present, I've not had to take any of the allergy shots. Part of that I owe to the diet [comprised partly of fruit and vegetable juices] and to Doug's ability to channel in prana, a healing energy, and send it into my body."
Diane's experience with Douglas was so positive that treatments from him became a part of the regimen for any subsequent health emergency.
"I knew Doug then," Miss Ladd commented, "and if I'd get the flu or something like that, I'd always go to him."
Diane's belief in Douglas' healing ability helped set the stage for a dramatic unfolding of events two years later. Laura Dern, Diane's daughter through marriage to actor Bruce Dern, had developed a serious medical condition known as scoliosis. The disease is a progressive lateral curvature of the spine occurring most often in children, and which, if left unchecked, can lead to crippling, even death. It was first detected by Laura's pediatrician who recommended that she be taken to see Dr. Jack Mosheim, a leading orthopedic surgeon in Beverly Hills. Laura was twelve and a half at the time, years before her debut film performance as an actress in the film, Teachers (1984). X-rays confirmed that the abnormal curvature of the girl's spine was pronounced. Dr. Mosheim recommended that for the next four and a half years, Laura be placed in a back brace extending from her neck to her hips. It was more than Diane could accept. So drastic a measure would affect her daughter's teenage life irreparably. She felt there must be other options.
"How many months can you give me to go out and do some things for my child?" Diane asked the doctor.
Mosheim looked at her askew. "Be back here in nine months," he said. The tone of his voice conveyed there was little else she could do, but he was willing to let her try.
From that point on, Diane embarked on a healing campaign for her daughter which comprised several alternative modalities. Douglas' psychic healing was the first which came to mind. She knew firsthand the value and efficacy of his treatments and immediately scheduled ongoing appointments for Laura. In addition, she sought the help of Cash Bateman, a former colonel in the Marine Air Force who diagnosed and treated illness by reading the aura, or spiritual body, surrounding the physical body. In his youth, he had been under the tutelage of Edgar Cayce, the famous modern day prophet. Bateman observed Laura's aura with concern.
"What is the poison that entered her body when she was five years old?" he asked.
"When Laura was five years old, she had been bitten by a black widow spider,'' Diane told him.
Bateman explained that the spider bite had interrupted the flow of kundalini energy, throwing it out of balance. As a result, it had tipped the young girl's spine, causing it to grow progressively askew. Along with a standard regimen, he suggested that peanut oil be regularly applied to strategic energy points on her body.
"Now what else are you intending to do for Laura in the way of treatment?" Bateman asked her.
"The only thing I know to do is to go to a healer friend of mine, Douglas Johnson," she told him.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Bateman exclaimed. "Constantly send in new prana into the energy centers of the body. It is one of the best things you can do." Although Bateman had never met Douglas, he had learned of his healing ability from a client who had come to him from Italy.
Through Bateman, Diane contacted Dr. Viola Framen, a cranial therapist in La Jolla, California. Dr. Framen administered a therapy of cranial manipulation to restore balance and harmony to the nerve centers of the body. She had enjoyed many noted successes. At the first session, Diane mentioned that she had been taking Laura to see Douglas. Dr. Framen, too, had heard of his healing successes and recommended overwhelmingly that Laura continue the treatments with him.
Diane rounded out Laura's treatments by regular visits to Dr. Terwilliger, a noted chiropractor in Beverly Hills. The three therapies were meant to work together to produce the desired cure.
"It was a combination of Doug, the cranial manipulator and the chiropractor," Laura commented in retrospect. "They all worked so beautifully together."
Over the next nine months, the scoliosis became less and less noticeable. At each weekly session, Douglas psychically noted a steady improvement in Laura's condition. Dr. Framen, similarly, kept a photographic record of each visit which showed a gradual improvement in the spinal posture. By the end of nine months, the maximum time period originally allowed by Dr. Mosheim before putting Laura in a back brace, the scoliosis was barely noticeable. Diane then took Laura in to see the orthopedic surgeon. Upon seeing Laura, Mosheim's reaction was less than amenable.
"She's grown over two and a half inches!" he exclaimed, noticing how Laura had shot up in nine months. "You should have come back sooner. Growth is a detriment to scoliosis! We've got to get this child in a back brace now!"
"—if in fact she needs a back brace," Diane commented. "Take her X-rays, and you tell me. If she does, I'll put her in one immediately."
"Of course she does," said the doctor, growing impatient. He did not consider that his concerns might be unfounded. He immediately ordered new X-rays be taken. While they were being developed, Diane and Laura sat in the waiting room. Suddenly, the door to the X-ray lab swung open. Dr. Mosheim came running down the hall, excitedly waving the X-rays back and forth above his head.
"My God, it's a miracle!" he shouted.
Yes doctor, it is a miracle—" Diane sighed with relief, then added reflectively, "and a lot of hard work."
Dr. Mosheim observed incontrovertibly what went against his training and experience as a doctor. Laura's original X-rays showed that nine months earlier the curvature in her spine had been pronounced. In the new X-rays, even against the disadvantages posed by rapid growth, the abnormality was barely visible.
"It's not totally perfect, but the imperfection is extremely minor," he told them. "I want you to tell me everything you've done since I last saw you.
Dr. Mosheim took them into his office where he could tape record their conversation. Diane explained to him in detail the treatments Laura had received including the psychic healing by Douglas. The doctor took in the information with extreme interest and enthusiasm.
"I'm going to go before the Medical Board and tell them what you've done," he said, astounded at how effective the alternative therapies had been. "Laura doesn't need a back brace."
Dr. Mosheim prescribed exercises to strengthen and maintain the correct posture of Laura's spine, stating that he would simply monitor her as time went on. The young girl was ecstatic.
"The most important thing was that I wasn't going to be in a back brace," Laura later commented. "No parties, no dances, no boys, no activities— those things are your life when you're a kid. So when I heard the news, I was just so relieved and thrilled and joyous. All the hard work had paid off."
Douglas was pleased when, several years later, Laura had decided to pursue a career in acting, feeling in his own way he had helped make it possible. She subsequently went on to star in such films as Mask, Blue Velvet, Rambling Rose and the blockbuster hit, Jurassic Park. If her medical condition had been left to the auspices of traditional therapies, the future for this young star might not have looked so bright.
"I owe Doug a great deal," Laura said in retrospect. "I believe in psychic healing implicitly. I see many people go to healers and have incredible success.
Diane echoed her daughter's sentiments. "I'm just glad there's a Douglas Johnson on the planet," she spoke appreciatively, "and I'm so glad he's my friend."
With such an opinion of Douglas, Diane naturally recommended him to some of her celebrity friends. One of them was Shelley Winters. The legendary actress, known for her inimitable character portrayals in films such as The Diary Of Anne Frank, A Patch Of Blue, and The Poseidon Adventure, was beset with indecision over a medical emergency. She injured her knee two weeks prior to her scheduled appearance on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds. Her physician, Dr. Jack Mosheim, the same orthopedic surgeon who attended Laura Dern, noted that the cartilage surrounding the knee joint had been torn severely. His prognosis indicated the knee would not heal on its own, leaving no alternative to surgery. Since putting normal weight on the leg brought excruciating pain, Shelley would not be able to open the play in New York. The promoters of 'Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds,' needless to say, were distraught. Miss Winters, the show's star, could not be substituted. Cancelling the play would mean the loss of a tremendous amount of money already expended in production costs, rehearsals, etc. No one knew exactly what to do. Rafer Johnson, the great Olympic athlete, heard of Shelley's predicament through Dr. Mosheim's office. Years earlier, he had received surgery for the same knee affliction and was not pleased with the results. The knee had been a painful bother to him ever since. He advised her not to have the surgery if she could possibly avoid it. Finally, when Diane Ladd heard of Shelley's dilemma, she recommended Douglas. At first, there was resistance to the idea.
"Where's Diane taking you?" quipped Shelley's sister Blanche, a registered nurse.
"To a psychic healer," Shelley replied.
"That's crazy— going to some healer! You're out of your mind!" she scoffed.
Shelley was at first inclined to agree with her sister, but Diane persisted, knowing Douglas could help her. "What have you got to lose, Shelley? Nothing, absolutely nothing!"
Shelley finally agreed. After one treatment with Douglas, the actress felt well enough to make the trip to New York and opened The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds as scheduled. She portrayed her role as Beatrice to glowing reviews, never once conveying to the audience she had suffered an injury of any kind. Upon returning to California, she again complained of pain and received a second treatment from Douglas. After one more treatment, the pain completely disappeared. Dr. Mosheim confirmed that the knee had healed to the extent that there was no longer a need for surgery.
As a result of her experience, Shelley became a convert to the efficacy of Douglas' healing treatments. She went on to stellar performances in such films as Journey Into Fear, Over The Brooklyn Bridge, Deja Vu and Delta Force, the knee never again posing a medical problem. She has since remained in touch with Douglas, attending get-togethers at his home, including his annual Christmas party.
Copyright © 1994 by Jon Stevens. All rights reserved.
Home Page || Introduction || Book: A Healer Among Us || Book Review || Articles || Photo Album || Scheduling An Appointment