At Path to Health Center, PATH Method is used alongside integrative medicine as a structured process of inquiry and a therapeutic process. It helps surface what a symptom may be expressing, and gives the patient a way to participate in their own healing alongside appropriate medical care.
Part one · Who it’s for
Who uses it, and where
PATH Method is used by practitioners and by individuals for their own practice, in the consulting room and beyond it.
Clinicians
Licensed medical and mental-health practitioners bringing PATH Method into their care, alongside medical assessment.
Coaches and allied practitioners
Coaches, facilitators and wellbeing practitioners integrating PATH Method into their work with others.
Individuals
People learning PATH Method for their own use, including continuing between appointments.
Where it is used at the Center
- Cancer care, as part of a whole-person program
- Chronic and complex illness
- Persistent pain
- Addiction and compulsive patterns
- Trauma and nervous-system dysregulation
Part two · How it’s used
The twelve phases
In facilitated practice, the five actions sit within a twelve-phase framework a clinician can follow within a session, from establishing consent to integrating the change. The five actions are the memorable core; the twelve phases add what a session needs around them.
- 1
Will and Commitment
Establishing consent and readiness to work, the ground of safe engagement.
- 2
Presence
Bringing patient and clinician into shared, regulated presence.
- 3
Empowerment
Restoring the patient’s sense of agency in their own process.
- 4
Presenting Issue
Naming the core issue, symptom or pattern to be worked with.
- 5
Healing Intention
Clarifying the direction and desired outcome of the work.
- 6
Expressive Gesture
Reading and inviting the embodied, somatic response.
- 7
Witness
Cultivating the observing awareness.
- 8
Director
Guiding the inner dynamic from that witnessing stance.
- 9
Resource–Remedy
Introducing the quality, capacity, figure or action the moment requires.
- 10
Transformation
Allowing the shift in the inner configuration to take hold.
- 11
Practice
Rehearsing the new pattern so it becomes available at will.
- 12
Integration
Embedding the change into everyday life and follow-up.
Its home
PATH Method was developed and refined over decades of practice. You can see the environment it grew in, the consulting rooms, the integrative pharmacy, the whole-person approach, at Path to Health Center in Cape Town, South Africa.
Go deeper: the white paper
Dr. Goldberg’s account of the twelve phases is being prepared for release in October 2026. Request the white paper →