Getting to Know You: A Physician Explains How Acupuncture Helps You Be the Best YOU

by Joseph Helms

Medical acupuncture stands out among the alternative health modalities for ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and applicability to a wide range of conditions. In Getting to Know You, Dr. Joe Helms uses down-to-earth language to help readers make the best use of this treatment. He clearly identifies what sorts of problems respond best to medical acupuncture and distinguishes between constitutional characteristics and early indicators of health conditions.

Getting to Know You features real-world patient cases in medical acupuncture and promotes applied learning throughout, inviting readers to identify traits and symptoms they see in themselves. To this end, Dr. Helms provides a list of questions to clarify the reader’s dominant type. For each type, guidelines are presented with common-sense changes to promote optimal health. The book conveys a wealth of complex medical information in simple terms, including elusive classical acupuncture models such as the circulation of energy and the five phases of treatment. A useful appendix further highlights acupuncture’s benefits, while a reference list makes it easy to find practitioners in the U.S.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medicine

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2007

Reviews

[Frank Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and ending portions of this book had the most value to me, personally, in being practical, simple descriptions of aspects of acupuncture. I think it's because I'm studying more traditional acupuncture, and the author studied European, modified ideas about acupuncture, mainly. It's not to say that they might not be useful, and perhaps more easily engaged with by a casual, curious Western reader, but for me it was almost a little off-putting to have well-established ideas have to be fit into "biopsychotypes."

[Daniel Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to acupuncture and theory for the average person. This will give any one wanting to know a good basis for discussing and understanding what acupuncture is and how it could apply to them.