How Healing Works: Get Well and Stay Well Using Your Hidden Power to Heal

by Wayne Jonas

Drawing on 40 years of research and patient care, Dr. Wayne Jonas explains how 80 percent of healing occurs organically and how to activate the healing process.In How Healing Works, Dr. Wayne Jonas lays out a revolutionary new way to approach injury, illness, and wellness. Dr. Jonas explains the biology of healing and the science behind the discovery that 80 percent of healing can be attributed to the mind-body connection and other naturally occurring processes. Jonas details how the healing process works and what we can do to facilitate our own innate ability to heal. Dr. Jonas's advice will change how we consume health care, enabling us to be more in control of our recovery and lasting wellness. Simple line illustrations communicate statistics and take-aways in a memorable way. Stories from Dr. Jonas's practice and studies further illustrate his method for helping people get well and stay well after minor and major medical events.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Science, Self Help, Medical, Medicine, Nutrition

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

WAYNE JONAS, MD, is a widely published investigator, practicing family physician, and professor of medicine at Georgetown University and at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. He is also a retired lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps of the United States Army. Dr. Jonas was the director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health from 1995 to 1999 and led the World Health Organization's Collaborative Center for Traditional Medicine. Prior to that, he served as the director of medical research fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He now advises national and international organizations on ways to implement evidence-based healing practices in their medical systems. Visit drwaynejonas.com.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this book. I was hoping to find some good insight into how to help patients that don't respond well to conventional treatment, and there was some of that. I also found that I was using several of the techniques that the author discusses, mostly when I've been caring for patients with mental illness. I think that the appendix probably has the most useful information in the book, and might be worth making a copy of the questions he asks there to give to patients who want to evaluate non-pharmacologic treatments.

He repeatedly mentioned a statistic that medicine only makes a difference of about 20-30% in studies, and I have trouble wrapping my mind around that. Anecdotally in my practice I have seen that kind of response in depression and other mood disorders, but much better than that in diabetes and hypertension (two other maladies he mentions). *shrug*

Most of the book is the author's own anecdotes of patients / patient composites that he cared for that were able to improve through lifestyle changes, the power of placebo and the mind, and meaningful social interactions. This is fine. It might also be nice to read for someone dealing with a chronic illness and looking for new approaches.

I like the idea of having access to a behaviorist. Not sure what that is, how you find one, or how you get insurance to cover it...

Rating: PG, some discussion about death and chronic illness.

[Jihae Abou El Ela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to really let go of my biases and fixed beliefs to enjoy this book, but once I did I found it profound. It’s completely changed my practice and the way I see/interact with patients. The difference is palpable - the way patients open up and respond when using a holistic approach. I’ve been thanked a lot more for my time while objectively doing less - often just listening and problem solving together rather than prescribing/referring.

[Kristi Wettstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every primary care provider should read this. The first 3rd talks about the science of the placebo effect and it might break you if you're an evidence-based champion. The rest of the book teaches you that both can exist. And how to connect your patient with their purpose. Will be re-reading throughout my career.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Blogging For Books/Lorena Jones Books.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

How much one appreciates this book depends on how one feels about the divide between Western reductionist medicine and the healing practices of the rest of the world as well as what is labeled as complementary and alternative medicine [1].  As someone who is a fairly skeptical person about the state of our health care system but also about much going on in alternative medicine, I thought that this book was fairly straightforward and even obvious.  That said, as the author is an MD, I thought the book must have been rather tough for the author to write, given that in this volume he admits a massive failure on the part of contemporary American medicine to deal effectively with pain and chronic problems and engage both the rituals of healing as well as the need for patient buy-in.  If I do not think this book was a particularly dramatic one from my own perspective, the book shows a scientifically trained person at least struggling to accept the complex reality of human consciousness and the role of psychology and faith in healing, and that is worth a lot.

This volume is about 300 pages containing ten chapters divided into three sections and including various worthwhile supplementary material as well.  The author begins with an introduction that states the need for a new understanding of healing in light of the high cost and low effectiveness of contemporary medicine.  The first part of the book looks at the need to rethink healing, and the author discusses the paradox of healing, how we heal, how science tends to miss healing, and the elements for a rigorous science of healing.  After this the author discusses the dimensions of healing, including the importance of home, the behavior of practitioners, the importance of love, and the key role that meaning plays in healing.  The last two chapters discuss integrative health and creating healing that is custom and individualized.  Te book then looks at appendices including the HOPE consultation, the author's view for an improved consultation than tends to occur at present, as well as tips for constructing one's healing journey and additional reading on integrative health.  Throughout the book the author includes personal stories from his own family (especially his wife) as well as others he has met that prompted him to think about what goes wrong with the usual medical care and what could be done to better serve the interests of healing.

If one is looking for a well-told discussion of a doctor's journey to a greater understanding of the difference between healing and curing, this book will be of great use.  If one has some understanding of the importance of diet, exercise, stress, love, and meaning/purpose in one's ongoing well-being, this book will likely be more encouragement along that path but will likely not have as much new information as one might think.  For those readers who are more pessimistic or cynical by nature, this book is itself evidence of a growing tendency to admit that medicine has very little to offer those who suffer pain and chronic elements except for a wagging finger that tells them to eat better, get along better with others, find meaning in life, avoid loneliness, and exercise more.  Like a great many of the tendencies of our times to force greater responsibility and fewer resources to those who suffer, this book is a call, quite literally, for patients to heal themselves, especially in that it does not provide promise that their doctors and other health care professionals will be the most empathetic and understanding when it comes to providing care.  

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on alternative medicine. Alternative in the traditional sense and in in the sense of just mixing the whole system up. It cemented my view that the way we do healthcare in the US is harmful to patients and sometimes a waste of time.

[Sass Frass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound ideas/realities of healing spoken by a medical doctor. I could not find a doctor who supported non-Western approaches, validation came via this book.

[Am Y · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not going to tell you some secret you don't already know. Contained within its hundreds of pages and huge chunks of text is just the simple idea that healing is what you make of it .

There is constant reference to the biopsychosocial model, integrative healing, the holistic approach, etc etc, and a ton of completely anecdotal case studies - usually featuring the author's own patients, if not his friends or relatives. He repeatedly brings up his wife's breast cancer recurrence, for instance, as an anecdote for the multiple points he tries to prove throughout the book. With regards to all his anecdotal references, the author even admits that the perceived "success" he experienced with these patients could just be a "coincidence" (we never hear about any of his "failed" cases - I'm sure there must've been patients whose conditions did not improve despite his methods, but we are never told of those) - as in, they just so happened to get better, but for some other unknown reason, and not because of what he thought he did to help them.

When actual scientific studies are cited, the author again admits that the results were inconclusive, and/or there were problems with replication. (At least the guy is honest.) Many of those so-called studies were also very problematic, involving variables that could not be properly defined or accounted for. For example, an animal study involving bunnies showed that those which were fed unhealthy diets (in an attempt to replicate heart disease in them so they could study the illness in humans) failed to get heart attacks and still led normal lifespans as the purportedly "healthy" bunnies, because the lab technician looking after them took them out of their cages daily, petted them, and "showed them love".

Many of the case studies and/or topics talked about ultimately boil down to the placebo effect, or rather, the meaning you attribute to your healing ritual, whatever that ritual may be. If you think what you're doing helps, it will help, is essentially what the book tries to say.

The author also discusses factors he thinks contributes to the healing process: love, friendship, community, life purpose, the social environment, etc etc. Guided imagery, prayer, and religion are among the tools used that people can utilise to help them get better.

Can these techniques cure people? I don't think so. Because otherwise the author's wife wouldn't need to undergo a gruelling months-long chemo regimen in order to keep her cancer recurrence at bay. The author himself admits that the chemo was absolutely necessary in keeping her alive. If all of us could "stay well" (as claimed in the title) just by practising the advice given in this book, his wife wouldn't even have had a cancer recurrence in the first place. Food for thought.

[Monica H (TeaandBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever been faced with a serious health issue, you may have struggled with our Western health care system and wondered what else would be the most helpful to heal from whatever it is that you are facing.


How Healing Works by Wayne Jonas, MD, is an interesting read for those who want to find healing for themselves or for those who are interested in health care in general. Jonas divides this book into three sections: Rethinking Healing, The Dimensions of Healing, and Your Healing Journey. He also includes appendices for additional resources to help on your personal healing journey. Jonas shares a lot of people's case studies throughout the book, including that of his wife. He also shares how he used research to learn how healing works--and how healing can't always be measured but that doesn't mean it won't work. He tells stories of those who were clearly healed in spite of methods that couldn't be quantified. Dr. Jonas initially comes at the research and case studies as a skeptic and studies healing practices from all angles. However, he also shares how we are more than just bodies of chemicals and cells and to get the best healing, a patient and physician need to factor in the whole body of mind, spirit, and environment, along with the body. In the end, he encourages you to create your own integrative medicine approach if there isn't an integrative health clinic in the area. He has extra helps in the appendices designed to use as a patient either alone or with your doctor. He encourages readers to give a copy of the book to their doctor too if they can't get their doctor to look at their case holistically. Dr. Jonas is a well-educated doctor with over forty years of experience in health care.


I found How Healing Works to be a fascinating read. I liked Jonas style. He writes in such a way that a layman can easily understand what he is saying. Yet, he presents each case study and type of healing with a sort of "prove it to me" attitude. I have felt for some time that we need this kind of true health-care reform in our country that Jonas talks about in How Healing Works. Some of what he shares wasn't new to me because I read a lot of alternative and integrative health care related books, but I also learned some new things in this book. I also gained a better handle on creating my own integrative health care plan as there isn't a good integrative clinic in my area. I truly wish we had an integrative health care system somewhere in my area that looked at each person holistically like Jonas suggests, instead of the standard Western health care model, but unfortunately we do not. I would recommend How Healing Works to everyone with an interest in health care, whether as a patient, advocate for a patient or a health care worker.


I received How Healing Works from the publisher and Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for the book.

[Jamie Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This loses a star for "voice" because at times the author's tone or choice of anecdotes annoyed me, but it gets 10 stars for information! Like Cure, this book focuses a lot on placebos and what the science of placebos tells us.

It also goes in depth about healing spaces - how what we surround ourselves with has measurable impacts on our health, for better or worse. (That was fascinating and my favorite part!)

I also give the author tremendous kudos for being completely open about how much doctors don't know... and how they're trained to not admit it. He included some great health industry statistics as well, that should be of interest to anyone who pays taxes.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have many criticisms of this book. The primary one being that he seems to possess an awareness of everything wrong with our contemporary money driven modern healthcare system in America. He even points out the RTC studies are flawed regarding western drugs and yet time and time again he reverts back to statistics, percentages and the biomedical viewpoint being superior.

It's certainly scarily enlightening if this is how the majority of M.D.s view integrative medicine. It most certainly is not the way practitioners of other established medical systems view integrative medicine.

He actually denounces alternative medicine every opportunity that presents itself even though he 'seems' to be open minded about it. Acupuncture apparently doesn't work because after 12 treatments his 2 patients he recommended use it didn't have strong enough results with it, even though one acupuncturist told him 12 treatments wasn't enough. Of course it wasn't. Chronic conditions take longer to treat. Yet, the neurologist is the end-all opinion that matters. He makes ridiculous statements about there not being enough credible studies on alternative medicine. Ha. He's just too lazy to include the thousands and thousands of studies that clearly demonstrate how effective this medicine is from a conventional medical perspective. He barely delves into Auryvedic and Chinese Medicine and scarcely talks about Shamanism and yet he heavily steals the ideas that make these medicines functionally work.

I studied all of the western b.s. about patient-centered care and creating hospitals that engender more healing environments, and it's great in theory but only can exist in places wealthy enough to support it. So, also he contributes to patient care disparity by not including any information about that fact that these studies are pure common sense about healing and yet they are rarely implemented because the majority of people in America can't afford them.

His paradigms of how conventional medicine should be integrated? All stolen from the medical traditions that came 5000 years before this stupid money driven system of today. Yeah, Bono, even you, a singer, had a better insight into medicine when you wrote, 'the rich stay health the sick stay poor.' All of his HOPE notes instead of using SOAP notes? Stolen from the way Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine have always been practiced. It's not a new concept that needs new western terminologies to make it valid. Other whole and complete systems of medicine, like acupuncture, that are recognized by the NIH as being such, have been utilizing this clinical practice for centuries. It's not a new concept to look at the whole person including their behaviors and social dynamics.

Medicine has and always will be a social science. It needs to evolve with the times, the cultures, and the technology. He acts like medicine can only be a hardcore science proven credible by RTC trials (which he admits are completely flawed and manipulated even for western drugs and procedures)

It's not that he doesn't have good advice to offer. He does, like Dr. Oz, but chooses to pass it off as his own unique ideas and to get his hands in the pot of profit of alternative medicines now that the public is getting smart and realizing that western medicine can not treat chronic illness, never could, and never will.

Like many others who go out there in today's world to promote something, he neglects to tell multiple sides of the same story.

Where are the chapters about non-compliant patients who have derived identity in their illness and who don't want to get better because they receive attention by having ailments that 10 doctors can't fix. What about talking about how the system isn't just flawed? That doctors themselves are flawed and not all of them are good just because they are doctors. He misses the mark completely when it comes to understanding that medicine requires both doctor and patient to work together as a team for healing.

I was sick of hearing about placebos. A person's body changes from second to second. In actuality, no RCT study will ever be accurate because you'll never get a true baseline for the study. Ever.

There's so much more I could criticize. The only thing I can compliment is his chart that does a great job of revealing to people just how harmful the statin drugs are. Yet, he goes back to statistics, percentages and the gold standard again and again. So, he never quite grasps what healing truly encompasses.

I would highly recommend that read something by Dr. Andrew Weil instead.

[Scribe Publications]

By sharing his courageous personal journey as a physician, from skeptic to researcher to informed advocate, Dr. Wayne Jonas provides a compelling case for completely re-thinking our nation’s approach to health care. Rising financial and societal health-care costs make this book a must read.
Gail C. Christopher, DN, ND, Board Chair of Trust for America's Health, Former Senior Advisor and Vice President of W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Outstanding! A must read for anyone with chronic disease and the clinicians who care for them. This is true health-care reform.
Don Berwick, MD, Former Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Co-founder and President Emeritus of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

The one book all national leaders must read this year. Full of stories of how heroes heal when they come home and how every family who has a person with chronic disease, can also be that hero.
Retired Admiral Michael Mullen, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Dr. Wayne Jonas issues a clarion call for medical practice and health care that we cannot afford to ignore. A compelling case is made for a more balanced approach to health care in which the impressive gains from science are matched with attention to equally powerful, but often ignored, processes of healing. Dr. Jonas brings to bear a lifetime’s knowledge of evidence-based medicine, to which he has been a major contributor, with extensive professional experience of how people heal. This book is essential reading; it is recommended for health-care professionals and anyone who is interested in achieving optimal health.
Jonathan Davidson, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center

How Healing Works is a brilliant contribution. The wisdom that Dr. Jonas shares lies at the heart of modern nursing: how meaning, love, caring, empathy, and compassion facilitate the healing process.
Barbara Dossey, RN, PHD, FAAN, Author of Holistic Nursing

A breakthrough book! It should be read by every clinician and business leader. With compelling stories and rigorous science, Dr. Jonas shows us what we all know but have forgotten — that the healing of mind and body are inseparable.
Kenneth R. Pelletier, PHD, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Fransisco, Director, Corporate Heath Improvement Program, and author of Sound Mind, Sound Body

Dr. Jonas makes compelling arguments for a new paradigm in medicine that addresses the inner, interpersonal, and external dimensions where true healing takes place. How Healing Works provides an urgently needed blueprint for a new approach to medicine.
James Lake, MD, Former Chair, American Psychiatric Association Caucus on Complementary, Alternative & Integrative Medicine and Author, Integrative Mental Health Care

Dr. Jonas shifts the dialogue in How Healing Works to exactly what health care needs. As someone who works in the daily struggle to make health care better, I know firsthand that this book is a must for those interested in being leaders in health and healing. Understanding the balance of healing and curing is a needed combination for greater well-being. I recommend it to all who seek to help patients with any disease, and to the rest of us who may become patients some day.
Scott Kashman, Chief Acute Care Officer, Lee Health

How Healing Works is the most comprehensive and comprehensible book on how and why people heal. It is a masterful survey of the research on the physical, psychological, and spiritual factors that help us regain and retain our health. Dr. Wayne Jonas is one of America’s top docs, a true leader in medicine, who deeply understands the ins and outs of getting well. After reading How Healing Works, share it with your physician.
Larry Dossey, MD, Author of One Mind

In the polarised, non-integrative era twenty-five years ago — the earliest days of introducing natural health and integrative practices into regular care — the arrival on the scene of a healer advocate for a more balanced medicine, who happened to be both army officer and medical doctor, was a great gift. What some of us did not yet know was that Wayne Jonas, then an emerging leader at the National Institutes of Health and in federal policy, incorporated healing practices and traditions from across the globe into his work to understand, bridge, and transform.
John Weeks, Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; Publisher, The Integrator Blog

Wayne Jonas distills a lifetime of research, teaching, caring for patients, emotional growth, and inquiry into this wise, generous, and useful offering. He asks the toughest questions and responds in clear, accessible language. He invites us with him on an intimate journey as he presents with candour and courage his own evolution and the remarkable stories of those who have taught him so much about the mysteries of healing, hidden in plain sight. This is required reading for everyone interested in understanding and unleashing our untapped healing potential.
Joseph Bobrow, Roshi, PHD, Author of Waking up from War

Wayne Jonas is a scientist, physician, teacher, storyteller, and, ultimately, a healer. His book uses a wide lens to examine how healing is not only pharmaceuticals and surgery but involves environmental, behavioural, social/emotional, and cognitive/spiritual dimensions. How Healing Works is provocative, engaging, and informative and encourages the reader in their own healing.
Ted Kaptchuck, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

‘Dr. Wayne Jonas provides us with inspiring and comprehensive guidance for our well-being. He integrates advances in science and technology for addressing illness and promoting health, along with the inner resources we have for healing. With examples from around the world, he invites us to actively participate in holistic healthful approaches — so essential for our times.
Monica Sharma, Author of Radical Transformational Leadership, Chair Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, and Former Director of Leadership and Capacity Development, United Nations

A careful scientist and a compassionate clinician, Jonas integrates the best of mainstream and alternative medical systems and provides a pragmatic and comprehensive approach that can transform how patients and clinicians approach healing.
Ronald Epstein, MD, Author of Attending

How Healing Works is radically and disruptively brilliant. Highly recommended.
Dean Ornish, MD, Founder and President of Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and Author of The Spectrum

A very powerful message.
Hawkes Bay Weekend

[Susan Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In four decades of practice, Dr. Jonas learned that 80% of healing is organic stemming from the mind-body connection and other innate physio-somatic systems and that healing is something each person can consciously influence.

Drawing on his experience as both a professor of medicine at Georgetown University and as the former director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, Jonas explains the science behind healing and presents traditional techniques that tap into what current research is uncovering. His methods offer people more control over their recoveries and ongoing wellness.

Books such as these are crucial to suggest to your clients if you are a holistic practitioner regardless of the health issue that presents itself so one is able to better understand what is occurring in and with their mind, body and spirit.

The beauty of this book is it is written so anyone is able to comprehend what healing is without it sounding weird or new agey. Wayne Jonas uses his own personal experiences to tell the reader factual accounts of how he came to realize that what he learned in the West was not all that exists regarding healing. Through his experiences, which thankfully, he wrote of, he brings to the reader a most integral book that can and will help every single person to regain control of their mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health.

For me, this book was full of data that I am already extremely familiar with, however, the way Jonas delivers the data reinforces everything I have learned thus far and adds to my entire holistic healing experiences. In "How Healing Works", Dr. Jonas explains the biology of healing and the science and details how the healing process works and what we can do to facilitate our own innate ability to heal.

An excellent starter book as an introduction to the subject of holistic health.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a thought-provoking book on healing vs. being treated for the symptoms of an illness. The book is filled with real life stories backed up by research. Couple of take-aways--most people heal after some intervention whether treated with a placebo or real medicine. (He isn't saying don't be treated, particularly for something acute but that a lot of chronic illness are improved by treating people in a wholistic, integrated way that looks beyond the symptoms are their whole life--sense of purpose, community, diet, exercise, etc. This book fits in well with other books such as Being Mortal that get doctors and patients to move beyond the immediate symptoms to thinking about what the person wants to achieve with their lives and how to get their body to help them get there.

[Wellness Minneapolis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might be overly harsh but in all honesty, I am a little tired of conventional providers ‘discovering’ concepts that we have known for centuries and writing a book as if it’s groundbreaking. That said, I will focus on the positive aspects of this book. Dr. Jonas makes statements such as “A person is an ecosystem- more like a garden to be cultivated than a car to be fixed.” I couldn’t agree more. He brings up really important research such as the work being done by Dr. Alia Crum around mindset, research on loneliness and health, and the placebo effect. I think his book should be required reading for every conventional medical student. We put entirely too much emphasis on the medicine being used and not enough on either the therapeutic relationship or the healing capacity of the patient.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very interesting read. It's written by a doctor about how we have the ability to heal ourselves and stay well. It is peppered with personal stories that were very touching to read. It's a great mix of traditional medicine and holistic medicine which I find to be a great balance for healing. He encourages you to find your own path to healing that works best for you since something that works for one person could do something completely different for another. This is a books I will be passing around to my friends and family to see how they also interpret it. I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.

[Sud Alogu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wayne Jonas worked as a director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as a research scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and Samueli Institute. In How Healing Works, he provides a simple, systematic approach to healing.

What does the scientific evidence point to?

• Only 20% of healing comes from the “treatment agent” that the doctor applies to you—whether that is surgery, drugs, acupuncture needles, herbs and supplements, diet, or anything else external to you.

https://unearnedwisdom.com/how-healin...

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonas argues that healing is a whole system, with a healing journey, belief, body, behavior, social and spiritual elements all important, each playing a role.

He identifies 3 key aspects to the system of healing he describes: ritual, treating the whole person, and stimulating a biological response with all the ritual and the rest of it.

The book amounts to a more sophisticated and holistic description of why and how the placebo idea works. As such, it's useful, if not exactly ground-breaking.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fixing wounds is an allopath's delight. Healing the whole person takes a whole person approach!

Sounds simple, but a lot of people seem to need a lot of persuading.

Best part of this book: the author refuses to denigrate the placebo effect.

But tell me, truthfully: if it works, can it truly be said to be a placebo?

A good entry level journey into addressing all that goes into supporting and sustaining getting as well as any condition and patient will permit.

[Becky Roper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at the placebo effect and how to treat chronic illness. Western medicine doesn't do this well at all, and the author gives kudos to ancient methods used by Indian and Chinese healers that are more helpful. Mostly it was about increasing your coping mechanisms, something we all could use at one time or another, but it took a long time to get there.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book by an MD who also recognizes spiritual, personal, and mental influences as well.
Sometimes healing is creating a new/different environment, sometimes eliminating negative influences, sometimes just being in nature. We may think technology is the best, but it may not be.

[Visola · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was more clinical than I expected from a self-help book. I liked that about it. The focus was on combining personal healing methods with medical healing and how integration of the two is the key to moving forward.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 1/3 of this book is depressing. Like, make sure you're staying up with your meds depressing. But if you persevere to the end, you'll start to see all the ways that we could be making healthcare more effective.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Rachel Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first 3/4- just because I'm more interested in learning about the placebo effect than I am about harnessing it. But worthwhile read!

[Karrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend to anyone in the medical feilds or anyone struggling with a chronic illness.

[Kamakshi Kalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every medical professional

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motivational for me. A new way to look at healing all of me or other parts of me.

[Dee Tighe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll never say it's "only" the placebo effect again.

[Jessica Garza · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very insightful and made me reevaluate my approach to heal completely.