T.V.'s Psychic Patricia Mischell

EASTSIDE WEEKEND

The Healing Touch

By Rose Huber
For EastSide Weekend
For years, 30-year-old Rob Lewis suffered from chronic headaches.
Oftentimes the attacks were so intense that the accompanying double vision and nausea were debilitating. Various doctors speculated his condition was stress related; but none could offer an underlying reason or a lasting cure.
For the last four months, he has been virtually headache-free.
Because of a nasty fall, 48-year-old Beryl Hanson was living with daily pain, with slight relief coming from the muscle relaxants her physician had prescribed.
For the last few weeks, she has been able to get out of bed i the morning without the energy-zapping pains and cramps in her knees and legs. And she has thrown away her pain killers...
For longer than she cares to remember 70-year-old ruby Bates was a victim of arthritis and high blood pressure. Her pain was constant; and she was a slave to 500 mg. of diuretics a day.
Today, both her pain and her drugs are history.
If you expect these people to talk about their cures in terms of some modern-day medical break-through, you looking in the wrong direction.
Their transformations, rather, spring from among the most ancient of curative techniques - spiritual healing.
Not to be confused with faith healing (which often evokes images of out-of-control healess and circus tent theatrics), true spiritual healing is both sane and controlled.
What's more, it's proponents insist, it's effective.
While many area churches have offered low-key spiritual healing services for years, last fall Cincinnati's Hope Ministries began a healing mission that has grown to such an extent that the non-denominational services attract persons from all over the tri-state area and beyond.
Led by the Rev. Patricia Mischell and her husband (optometrist Dr. Keith Bednarczuk), the Evening of spiritual Healing is held the second Wednesday of each month beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Positive Living Center on Vine Street near Wyoming. (The June service, however will be held the first Wednesday.)
While the attendance averages 30 to 35, there have been as many as 75 at one gathering. They come from all ages and walks of life - from young children to senior citizens; from blue collar workers to white collar professionals, including those from the field of medicine.
Some come out of deep faith; others, strictly out of curiosity.
but most come to be healed. those who seek relief from some condition of body, mind and /or spirit look to the founder of Hope Ministries, many believing she has been blessed with a special gift. But "Patricia," as her followers call her, shuns any reference to her own healing powers.
"We have to know that I'm not the healer," emphasizes the minister, explaining that after memberships in the Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian churches over the years, she was ordained through the Universal Life Church. "It's in God's hands," she says. "The Holy Spirit works through us. Keith and I are only instruments"
During the 30 to 40 minute homily that opens each healing service, Patricia talks freely about the curative powers of the divine - sprinkling her commentary with both traditional Biblical quotes and stories about how Jesus healed the sick as well as with such New Age vocabulary as "universal power" and "healing energy."
Oftentimes her informal remarks include references to her own recovery from crippling rheumatoid arthritis almost 20 years ago. "I was very sick,' she tells her congregation. "I was
one step away from a
wheelchair. I was on Welfare. My three children were on ADC.
"One evening I was sitting home alone and crying, feeling very sorry from myself," she continues. "My sister came over and said she had someone she wanted to take me to - a 72-year-old minister and spiritualist who could help me. 'If this is one of those psychics, forget it!' I told her. 'I'll just lose my 45.'"
Because she felt she had no other options, however, Patricia agreed to see the late Rev. Emiel Schmidt. "He had a church over in Westwood," she said. "He prayed with me. He introduced me to prayer and meditation, to the works of people like Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Joseph Murphy (The Power of the Subconscious Mind)."
Perhaps even more significantly, he reintroduced her to the Bible.
For months, Patricia, (by now a semi-invalid) read Scripture and other books, meditated and recited daily affirmations (I am perfect. I am whole. I am healthy. y body is the temple of the living Lord. I do not accept this diagnosis of incurable disease.)
Within six months, she was in remission.
In thanksgiving for her own healing, Patricia began to spread her faith

- first with groups of friends she invited to her home for prayer and discussion and eventually as a teacher, counselor, lecturer and author. From the beginning, she emphasized not only the healing nature of God, but also the power within each individual - a two-fold message which is at the basis of her ministry.
"If you came here tonight looking for a miracle, in terms of physical healing alone, that's not what it's all about," she tells those who have gathered for the laying on of hands.
"True spiritual healing involves much more. It is a ministry to the whole person - body, mind and spirit. If you have a hardened heart, then you must release whatever binds you so that the Holy Spirit can move through you. "Throughout their ministry, both Patricia and her husband emphasize the power of the Holy Spirit. In the prayer before the actual healing ceremony, both invoke the Holy Spirit to "Fill those here tonight with your power and love. Open their minds and their hearts so that they may truly feel your presence and experience the healing they desire."
Working as a team, Patricia and Dr. Edna minister to those who move forward for the laying on a of hands. A 12- year-old girl asks to be healed of the thyroid condition which is causing weight problems; an attractive 20-something woman requests a release from the hypoglycemia which has altered her lifestyle; a robust 40-ish man seeks relief from chronic back pain.
After Patricia lays hands and asks the Holy Spirit to move through each one, Dr. Edna symbolically blows on the forehead, asking the person to "receive the breath of the Holy Spirit."
In some cases, those receiving a healing are so overcome with emotions that they begin to sway, oftentimes falling backward. "This is called being slain in the Spirit," Patricia said, explaining that she always has "catchers" available, just in case.
"There's nothing magical or eerie about this," she emphasized. "Very controlled persons will generally not be affected in this way. Many, however, are so moved with the emotion of the moment and the sense of release they often feel through prayer, that they do get woozy or fall backward. They are simply in an extremely relaxed state."
It's easy to be overcome with the emotion of the evening. While young and old file up for the laying on of hands, inspirational music provides a moving backdrop, with each service featuring Touch Me, a song written and performed especially for the healing ministry by Linda Con over.
Touch me. Please hear my prayers and touch me. Heal me. I have complete faith in your. For I believe you truly love me. Lord, touch me.. I'm ready to be strong.
While it would seem that such readiness and faith should work in favor of someone desiring a spiritual healing.
Patricia implies that the Lord sometimes works in strange ways. "I've seen people of deep faith come for a healing and it might take months for their prayers to be answered," she acknowledges. "I encourage them to keep asking, to keep coming back. Then there are some who come in totally skeptical and they walk away without pain."
Jamaica native Beryl Hanson was one of those. "a friend invited me to the healing ministry," explained the Rose lawn resident. "I was skeptical. I admit it. I was raised in a religious environment, but I still questioned this healing. I didn't know what it was all abut. I'd see some of these ministers on TV and think, 'Oh, they can't really heal people that way.'"
Like many others before and after her, Beryl Hanson became a believer - but not immediately.
Explaining that she "let Patricia do her thing," Hanson returned home that evening feeling so different. "About three or four hours later, I was awakened with a warm feeling that flooded over me," she recalls. "It felt like hands crawling all over my body, almost as if I were paralyzed. I fell asleep wondering what in the world was happening to me."
The next morning, she felt different upon awakening. The pain was gone. for the first time in months, she was able to go to her job at a local nursing home without discomfort. "It hasn't bothered me since" she insists.
How do you explain such things? "You don't. You take it on faith," explains Rob Lewis who works in mass marketing for a publishing firm. Along with his wife Linda, he has experienced healing's of both body and spirit. Detailing his release from chronic headaches, Lewis says he initially approached the healing service with faith. "I don't think it would have happened if I had just walked in off the street," he says. "My faith was such that

I believed."
Lewis' wife Linda affirms that she and her husband have both received healing's of an emotional nature, from such afflictions as anxiety and depression. Explaining that they had "gone through some rough periods," the residents of mansion Hill in Kentucky return to the monthly services for the inspiration they receive.
In many instances, that inspiration comes from observing healing's in action.
"I was there the night Dr. Keller's arm grew (see accompanying story)," Linda recalls. "I say it happen. something like that increases your faith. Every time we go to a healing service, we feel
better about ourselves and life. We feel more connected to God.
Lord here I am. Reach out your hand ....Lord, touch me. I'm ready. Make me strong.
It's nice, of course - even miraculous, you might say - when the Lord's touch is immediate and the cure, instant. But Patricia cautions that oftentimes the healing touch comes through other human beings and that patience is necessary.
"God is the great physician," he acknowledges. "but oftentimes the Lord works through others. Spiritual healing involves the ministries of many disciplines, she says, emphasizing that she always encourages people to continue to follow the instructions of their doctors. "Many times a healing will come about through a physician or a new medication, for instance."
Patricia recalled a number of instances where individuals who attended a healing service wer4e led, in
roundabout ways, to the right doctor or the right diagnosis. When 29-year-old Kathie Becker, for instance, attended the service, it was in hopes that she would be released from the fatigue headaches and emotional distress that had altered her lifestyle. She had been told by her doctor that she was a victim of stress.
Someone in the audience suggested she might be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and recommended a physician who was helping patients cope with the symptoms of the condition. After a visit to the new doctor and lab tests confirmed that chronic fatigue syndrome was, indeed, the culprit, Becker was better able to deal with the situation. While her physical healing would come only with time, she had experienced an emotional healing in having been given a diagnosis.
"{Medicine, pharmacology, counseling and so on all become meaningful and significant through the power of the Holy Spirit," she says. "so, yes, you can come here and ask for a healing; and you may receive it on the spot. But not always. In many cases, the Spirit will lead you to your healing. It may not be a direct route and it may take some time." It may also take a change in lifestyle. "It's one thing to come here and receive a healing," Dr. Bednarczuk explains, implying there is a very practical side to this healing business. "It's another thing to make it lasting. Say you are healed of a stomach problem, but then go out and continue to eat a lousy diet smoke and get no exercise. It's likely you problem will return. Any healing implies a certain responsibility on the part of the person."
Ideally, that responsibility should start even before the healing service.
Referencing Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, Dr. Bednarczuk likes to talk about the healing temples of ancient times. "Hippocrates believed in spiritual healing," the optometrist said explaining that the Hippocratic symbol (the staff with the intertwining snakes) "depicts two energies intertwining along the spine. The sun symbolizes enlightenment; and the wings, the higher self.
Over the ages, this notion of spiritual healing was suppressed by physicians.
"Hipprocrates," he continued, "brought the information from the higher self to heal people. He would prepare his patients to receive a healing by encouraging them to fast, to purify their bodies and minds."
Today, Dr. Bednarczuk explained, "We can prepare ourselves to receive a healing by purifying our minds. We must prepare our mind by giving up any negative thoughts we might have and then ask god for a healing."
Admitting that up until a few years ago, he was "turned off by religion," the optometrist says he has had his own spiritual awakening. "I question. I probe. I research," he explained. "The more you question such (metaphysical) things, the more signs you get. Eventually the intellect becomes a barrier. Real faith involves going beyond the intellect.
"People often ask me how I, a medically oriented person, can explain the transformations that take place," he said. "I can't explain intellectually. I just know.'

Anatomy of A Dentist's Healing

By Rose Huber
For EastSide Weekend
Up until about six months ago, Mariemont dentist Dr. Thomas F. Keller was troubled by an occupational malady. His right arm was about an inch and one-half shorter than his left; and years of bending over while taking care of his patients had added to his discomfort and to his arm and back related trauma.
After attending a healing service at the Positive Living Center last fall however, he was restored to normal.
"She (Patricia Mischell) called upon the Holy Spirit to bring my limbs back into balance and heal me," he explained. "You could actually see my right arm extending. Everyone in the room could see it. I could feel it extend."
Perhaps even more incredibly, the arm that "grew" during the healing service has not shrunk back."
How does a person like Dr. Keller, a man trained in the medical arts, explain this phenomenon?
"You can't really explain it. That's a given." acknowledges the dentist who says he's been "a student of various methods of healing for quite some time. The premise is that all of us, innately, have the ability to call upon the universal power of energy and heal ourselves."
Explaining that this emphasis on this cosmic energy (or universal subconscious, as some have termed it) if at the basis of the philosophies of such notables as Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Bernie Segal, Dr. Keller shared his view of just what it is that Patricia Mischell does in her healing ministry.
"Basically, she's calling forth energy and brining in balance," the Hyde Park resident theorizes. "in my case, I don't think my right arm was actually any

shorter; I just couldn't get it out. The healing loosened up my muscles and spine and I was able to get back in balance."

Explaining that he attended the healing service "strictly out of curiosity," Dr. Keller said, "I had heard about the ministry and wanted to see for myself what goes on over there. I was pleased. The experience heightened my respect and appreciation of the fact that we can use the power around us to heal our selves. If more people tried this, there'd be a lot less need for expensive medical care. oftentimes we tend to put too much emphasis on the physician and not enough on ourselves. We must take responsibility for our own healing."

That's not to say, however, that there is no need for professional medical care. Quite the contrary, Dr. Keller emphasizes. "Certainly, for any significant illness, any alternate form of healing should be shared and included with what you doctor is doing," he advises. "naturally there are numerous instances where professional medical treatment is necessary."

"My experience with the healing service was very positive," he continued. "I went twice and have not returned because I am doing well and I am satisfied that her (Patricia Mischell's) healing ministry is valid. I've confirmed that what I thought was happening there is happening.

"My experience with the healing services was very positive," he continued. "I went twice and have not returned because I am doing well and I am satisfied that her (Patricia Mischell's) healing ministry is valid. I've confirmed that what I though was happening there is happening.

"It's something that's within reach of all of us. It's simply a matter of tuning into the concept and becoming familiar with some basic techniques."

PATRICIA MISCHELL:
a profile

Her work with local police departments and direct involvement in the solving of a number of area murder cases, in fact, thrust her into the spotlight and led to her becoming somewhat of a media personality.
In addition to being "resident psychic" on the old Bob Braun show for a number of years, the West Virginia native was also a frequent quest on many TV programs, including good morning America, The Ira Joe fisher show, Cincinnati Live on five and P.M. Magazine.

If the name Patricia Mischell sounds familiar, it's not surprising.
Before turning her full-time attention to Hope Ministries and other spiritual endeavors at the positive living Center a few years ago, the attractive personality was known throughout the greater Cincinnati area and beyond as a gifted psychic.

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Anatomy of A Dentist's Healing