On his journey to healing past trauma, Sir Antione Chevalier—a functional medicine practitioner at the White House since 2001—took the road less traveled to help others find wellness again through a more holistic approach.
Originally from Loches, France, Dr. Chevalier’s academic diligence was fueled by a desire to escape an abusive upbringing and explore new horizons.
Fulfilling his desire to travel the world and learn from other cultures, he found himself researching sustainable development in Zimbabwe, Africa, where he had what he described as a spiritual experience that contributed to his eventual shift in academic studies to holistic medicine.
“The influence of African healing practices, particularly those I observed in Zimbabwe, was pivotal,” Dr. Chevalier told The Epoch Times. “Communities there often embrace a blend of traditional medicine, spirituality, and community support, which was enlightening and inspiring. Their holistic approach to health—seeing it not just as the absence of illness but as a complex interplay of social, spiritual, and physical elements—deeply influenced my professional trajectory.”
Through this newly attained spiritual lens, Dr. Chevalier witnessed the impermanence of the human condition, the significance of one’s fleeting time on this planet, and how it interplays with the existence of others.
“This journey began amid my search for healing, leading me through various spiritual landscapes and culminating in a deeper understanding of self and the universe,” Dr. Chevalier said. “It was through meditation and mindfulness practices that I truly found my spiritual footing, awakening to the vastness of our collective human experience.”
Dr. Chevalier had already sensed that the solutions for mental health problems weren’t to be found in the pharmaceuticals and psychiatry of Western medicine, he said.
“These conventional approaches often seemed to skim the surface without addressing the deeper, more holistic aspects of healing that I was searching for,” Dr. Chevalier said. “This realization steered me toward exploring integrative and holistic practices, which emphasize the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit.”
Physical, Mental, and Emotional
According to the American Holistic Health Association (AHHA), holistic health treatment is an ancient healing tradition dating back 5,000 years to India and China.It emphasized living in harmony with nature and focused on the whole person rather than only looking at the illness, the AHHA said.
Just as the earth comprises interdependent systems such as air and water, so is the individual, whose wellness depends on the salubrious interplay of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, according to the AHHA.
Though the Western model has marginalized holistic medicine as quackery, the AHHA says many are returning to its ancient approach after finding no solutions to chronic issues for which modern physicians have no answers.
Sometimes releasing old trauma can be the cure for chronic pain, and sometimes all it takes is an intensive series of acupuncture treatments. Courtesy of Photos.com
Dr. Chevalier took his research further when he was ordained as a Buddhist monk after studying the religion at a monastery in Thailand, where he immersed himself in the teachings and practices of its residents.
“The process of becoming a monk, albeit temporary for my personal spiritual journey, took several months of deep meditation, study, and detachment from material concerns,” he said. “This time profoundly shaped my understanding and practice of mindfulness.”
Dr. Chevalier continues to practice Zen Buddhist meditation daily, and encourages it as a “unique pathway to inner peace.”
“The benefits of meditation are manifold, ranging from improved mental clarity and stress reduction to deeper self-awareness and emotional stability,” Dr. Chevalier said. “These benefits not only help in personal growth but also enhance the ability to assist others effectively.”
At the White House
Dr. Chevalier got his position in the White House “serendipitously,” he said, while offering free therapeutic sessions during a health fair at the White House Athletic Center, which he had attended in early 2001 before the 9/11 attacks.He was asked to come back to treat employees suffering from high stress levels, which led to his position there, where he still works today.
“My practice at the White House, although less frequent now, remains a deeply rewarding aspect of my career,” Dr. Chevalier said. “I conduct sessions as needed, offering tailored therapies that address the specific needs of the staff. I don’t have access to the president, just his staff and high-level public servants.”
Dr. Chevalier used this interconnection between mind, body, and spirit to help not only his patients at the White House, but also veterans, child survivors of sex trafficking, the criminally insane, and serial offenders, he said.
He’s treated notable people such as actor Richard Dreyfuss; activist and comedian Russell Brand; motivational speaker Tony Robbins and his wife; and anti-child trafficking activist Tim Ballard.
A Focus on Veterans
Much of his work has focused on veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).According to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report, veterans continue to be at high risk of suicide.
“In 2021, 6,392 Veterans died by suicide, an increase of 114 suicides from 2020,” the report states. “When looking at increases in rates from 2020 to 2021, the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate among Veterans increased by 11.6%, while the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate among non-Veteran U.S. adults increased by 4.5%.”
When Dr. Chevalier met Paul Ratajesak, the latter suffered from traumatic brain injury, PTSD, suicide ideation, alcoholism, and combat-related injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device attack in Ramadi, Iraq, while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I would get angry a lot,” Mr. Ratajesak told The Epoch Times. “I drank and had outbursts for no apparent reason. Dr. Chevalier got that in check with the different procedures while working on me. Today, I don’t drink or think about suicide and I’m much more active than I was before the treatment.”
Continuous around-the-clock combat operations had taken its toll, he said.
Many veterans who still struggle with depression and addiction issues feel that their needs are not being met through normal channels, Mr. Ratajesak said, so they seek their own alternative solutions, such as those offered by Dr. Chevalier.
The results Mr. Ratajesak experienced may sound too amazing to be true, and beg the question: How did Dr. Chevalier bring Mr. Ratajesak to a place of recovery?
Dr. Chevalier said it was all about harnessing the spirit-mind-body connection to alleviate his symptoms and foster long-term resilience and well-being.
“My methods include a combination of techniques such as acupuncture, manual therapy, and personalized dietary adjustments, and my own personalized cognitive therapy,” Dr. Chevalier said. “The cornerstone of my treatment is to address the root cause of PTSD, addiction, and depression, which often lie in unresolved trauma and emotional distress. By facilitating a state of deep relaxation, self-awareness, and my new personalized cognitive integrative therapy, the approach helps patients reconnect with their inner selves, allowing the body and mind to heal synergistically.”
Retired USMC Lt. Col. David Benhoff told The Epoch Times that he met Dr. Chevalier when he was helping veterans in hospice navigate the VA system’s bureaucracy so that they could get assistance.
Mr. Benhoff had his own health issues from his military service dating back to the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, and later the Iraq War.
He was treated with electro-acupuncture, which uses needles with electrodes that generate enough electricity to stimulate the flow of “qi,” which, according to Chinese medicine, is a form of energy that flows through the body like blood does, and can likewise become congested, resulting in physical ailments.
“I had been taking a lot of painkillers because I was in constant spine and sciatica pain from carrying a pack and gear around for all of those years, which really did a number on me,” Mr. Benhoff said.
The treatment worked, he said, and led to a change in diet and lifestyle that continued his path toward better health.
In his work with Dr. Chevalier, he said he’s witnessed him successfully treating one Navy sailor who had attempted suicide by jumping ship.
“They rescued him and had him so doped up on antipsychotics that he didn’t even recognize his own mother,” he said.
Dr. Chevalier recalled the incident of the Navy sailor at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia who he said was “just one step away from being immobilized with a psychiatric jacket and being heavily medicated.”
“After our sessions, within about a week, he was able to leave the ward and join others, with his medication reduced to just 10 percent of the original dosage,” Dr. Chevalier said. “Remarkably, within three to four weeks of continued sessions, he became completely drug-free and fully functional. That was seven years ago and he is still fully functional and drug free.”
Mr. Benhoff called Dr. Chevalier the “Thomas Merton” of medicine, a name taken from the American Trappist monk who studied various religions, including Buddhism, and wrote his bestselling autobiography “The Seven Storey Mountain” about his spiritual journey.
Just as Merton sought out multicultural paths to God, Dr. Chevalier has gathered what he’s learned from his travels to other countries and incorporated it into his healing methods, he said.
“It’s been his mission in his life to help people and he’s been given a gift to do it,” Mr. Benhoff said. “He’s tapped into something bigger than what we in the West might consider.”’
Just as Merton conferred with leaders of Eastern thought, so too did Dr. Chevalier, travelling to meet with Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Northern India, who endorsed his efforts by stating, “His work with the innocent survivors of trafficking is nothing short of the deepest compassion in action, guiding young lives towards a future of possibility and dignity. To take such souls, bruised by the darkest facets of our world, and lead them gently back into the light of productive days, is a task of great courage and sacred importance.”
Veterans Paul Ratajesak (left) and David Benhoff (right). Courtesy of Lee Ratajesak
Recognition for Helping the Suffering
Dr. Chevalier, who is also a Christian Cather minister, has received multiple awards in recognition of his service.The Royal Order of Constantine the Great—a nonprofit organization that helps abused women and children on a global scale while preserving the tradition of heroic, intellectual, and artistic virtue—knighted Dr. Chevalier for his work in 2023 for his work with homeless veterans suffering from PTSD and child survivors of sex trafficking.
He was awarded the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024 for his 4,000 hours of volunteer service for nonprofit work in service to others.
In addition, he received a “Global Change Maker of the Year” awarded to him by the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi in 2017, a “World Civility Award” from the United Nations in 2018, and he was awarded a medal from the “Sons of the American Revolution,” all for his global efforts to treating the destitute.
Among those awards is the title of “Honorary U.S. Marine Corps Officer” with an “Honorary Commission” into the USMC for his work with Marine veterans.
According to the Department of the Navy, these titles are designated to acknowledge the extraordinary contributions civilians have made to the Marine Corps.
“The title Honorary Marine should not be given merely to reward or foster friendships,” the department said. “Rather, it should be based on service and support to the Marine Corps that clearly surpasses the norm.”
Surpassing the Norm
And Dr. Chevalier had indeed “surpassed the norm,” according to retired USMC Lt. Col. Tom Oltorik.In addition to being involved in the grassroots medical freedom movement as the Florida director for MoveFreelyAmerica.org, Mr. Oltorik said he struggles with long COVID, which has been exacerbated by injuries from his military service.
Just as veterans have had to face symptoms like PTSD and addiction that have puzzled practitioners of the Western model, people are now dealing with newfangled COVID vaccine injuries that the current health care industry, for the most part, won’t recognize, he said.
At 63, Mr. Oltorik is just two years to retirement from his career as a commercial airline pilot. However, he’s been on disability because of long COVID symptoms.
“I’ve been endeavoring every day to find a treatment and answer for long COVID since mainstream allopathic medicine built on the Rockefeller model has none,” he told The Epoch Times.
He doesn’t believe it was mere coincidence that led him to Dr. Chevalier. He called it “God-cidence.”
Dr. Chevalier utilized bioenergetic therapies based on the idea that the body is designed with polarity and frequency and that it responds to electric microcurrent frequency and light, he said.
“He understands how the human body works as it relates to mind, body, and spirit,” he said. “He treated me with microcurrent and biomagnetics. Microcurrent therapy is a lot like acupuncture but without puncturing the skin.”
Dr. Chevalier recalled treating Mr. Oltorik, stating that he had difficulty carrying a grocery bag and was unable to run due to extreme pain throughout his spine, which also caused insomnia.
“Under my treatments and devices, his well-being has significantly improved,” Dr. Chevalier said.
Tom Oltorik, the state director of Move Freely America in June 2018. Jay Maloney
‘A Human Experience’
Dr. Chevalier’s work with veterans epitomizes selflessness, Mr. Oltorik said.“Mainstream medicine is not helping veterans,” he said. “Veterans are still killing themselves in record numbers. That’s completely unacceptable.”
It’s time to open the door wider for holistic practitioners like Dr. Chevalier, he said.
“Allow them the free range to put into practice their God-given talents,” he said. “He isn’t a snake oil salesman. That’s just an easy label to slap on by people who will never open their minds to this.”
However, people like Mr. Oltorick have witnessed what holistic medicine can do firsthand, he said.
“These practitioners are constantly being shackled, or put into boxes, and told they can’t do this or that,” he said. “I’m not saying we should reject Western medicine. I wouldn’t have been able to have orthopedic surgery without pharmaceuticals. What I’m proposing is we say yes to both, and stop suppressing functional naturopathic medicine.”
For Dr. Chevalier, helping others lights the way of his own path toward spiritual enrichment.
“You are not truly alive until you give something to someone who can never repay you,” he said, later adding that his life philosophy reflects French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s belief that “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience.”
“We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
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