Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine

This book is a marvelously rich sampler of writings by clinicians and theorists in mind-body healing, some of them in original offerings, many as excerpts from previous articles. An unusual feature of this book is its accompanying Video CD, in which several of the authors are featured in spoken presentations, which add to these authors' written presentations. That is the good news. The bad news is that this CD plays only on CD players attached to TV sets, not on computers (PC or Mac). All of the references from the articles in this book are on that CD - making them very difficult and frustrating to access. You would have to sit with the book in hand and search the CD on a TV set in order to identify any of the footnoted references or comments from the book you want to find. As a frequent reader of footnotes and references, I found this discouragingly unmanageable. A few of the many chapters that this reviewer found interesting: The essay by Candace B Pert, Henry E Dreher and Michael R. Ruff, "The Psychosomatic Network: Foundations of Mind-Body Medicine:" The essay by Eskenazi, Loren. "Transformational Surgery: Symbol, Ritual, and Initiation in Contemporary Cosmetic Surgery:" David Michael Levin's refreshing chapter, "Meaning and the history of the body: toward a postmodern medicine," Discussions on spiritual dimensions of health extend our awareness of this end of the wholistic spectrum. Dean Ornish, "Opening Your Heart: Anatomically, Emotionally, and Spiritually:" This volume is a good introduction to mind-body interactions, particularly for anyone who is new to this field. Those with considerable experience are also likely to find much of interest and value in the rich variety of presentations. This would be a more useful reference book were the references for further readings actually usable.

CONSCIOUSNESS & HEALING is a remarkable collection of papers, articles and personal accounts of the current state of healing in the United States of America today. Sixty seven leading experts on health and healing share their most intimate, heartfelt, and analytical assessments of exactly what's going on in the field of mind-body medicine. Included inside this book is a companion DVD that features interviews with health professionals who share their vision for where the field of healing is headed. CONSCIOUSNESS & HEALING is the brain and love child of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), whose goal is to explore the frontiers of human consciousness. While the breadth and depth of this book defies description, it's safe to say that CONSCIOUSNESS & HEALING is currently the most comprehensive and up-to-date reference book on the subjects of complementary and alternative medicine, integral medicine, and mind-body medicine. Some of my favorite ideas from this book are the notion of what it really means to grow old gracefully, the return of prayer, and the idea of the patient as being inextricably intertwined in society and the environment. Now that increasing numbers of patients seek complementary and alternative forms of healing to the more traditional chemical and surgical procedures, there is a need for the healing community to establish a better vision of how to treat patients as people who matter, and whose thoughts and feelings affect their health. CONSCIOUSNESS & HEALING is a marvelous reference book that will stimulate discussion between healing professionals and people seeking healing, and help us all figure out what new model of health care we can best create.

"If I only had a heart," the tin man moans in "The Wizard of Oz" - all the while unaware of the compassion infusing his behavior. This is a book of over 60 healing experts who not only speak their science from compassionate hearts, but remind us that mainstream physicians also have hearts, yet are all too often prevented from practicing from that place by a system gone mad. Opening with Ken Wilber's brilliant introduction and Marilyn Schlitz's eloquent statement of the old/new concept of "integral medicine," my adrenaline was pumping within the first few pages. The spirit of the book models connection and cooperation with all health providers which oils the mechanism of courageous change. This compassionate attitude (careful observation of what works and what does not, as opposed to attacks) beautifully paves the new paradigm path with openness, humility and, yes, love. One is encouraged to step up to the uncertain experince of "a transformation of consciousness," a concept less daunting and decreasingly esoteric as explicated here with the variety of multi-cultural essays covering heartfelt personal experience, simple daily exercises and visionary goals - all carefully supported by mounds of empirical data. The powerful paradigm of "Integral Medicine" seems to suggest the need for an updated Hippocratic Oath. (Somehow, I believe Hoppocrates is cheering us on here.) Rather than "First, do no harm," how about "First, nurture the spirit"?

Now this is a good book. It consists of over 60 essays as well as a DVD with interviews. The book is partially directed at Ken Wilber's concept of integral medicine. Wilber is not a medical authority but an integral philosopher with many novel and important views. He considers integral medicine as a perspective that includes the patient's subjective world space (one's meaning, values, and world view), the patient's social relationships (shared meaning, values and aspirations) as well as the patient's physical condition (the focus of most Western medicine). Those of us who work in the field (mine clinical trials) will appreciate this expanded view. Ironically, each of the essayists to a large degree focus on only one of these three areas of existence. But then this is not a bad thing for each of these authors has something to contribute. It would probably be best to view Wilber's contribution, the Foreward, as a theoretical attempt to expand the concept of medicine. There are other contributors who are transpersonal and humanistic psychologists and provide a theoretical orientation adding much visionary value to this book. There are also a number of practicing clinicians who anchor the book with suggestions grounded in evidence based medicine. These include Michael Samuels, Dean Ornish, Rachel Remen, Deepak Chopra, and Larry Dosey, all both experienced clinicians and visionaries. Other outstanding researchers' essays included in this book are by Candace Pert, Jon Kabat-Zinn, David Levin, and Stephanie Simonton-Atchley. This book offers the researcher, the clinician, and the patient much material to take and from it, synthesize their own view in the crucible of life. Daryl S Paulson Ph. D. BioScience Laboratories Inc.