Cancer As a Turning Point: A Handbook for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Health Professionals [Paperback]

Lawrence LeShan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1994

Psychotherapist Lawrence LeShan has worked with cancer patients for more than thirty-five years and his research has led people with cancer to find new, effective ways to fight for their lives. He has put his findings--full of meaning and purpose--into this revised edition that shows how psychological change, along with medical treatment, mobilizes a compromised immune system for healing. Included is a life-transforming workbook of hands-on exercises designed to help readers evaluate their inner selves and teach them how to get the most out of their immune systems by leading fuller, richer lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Le Shan rightly describes his ninth health guide as a "state-of-the-art handbook," counseling readers on how to realize their self-healing abilities by employing methods dramatized here in case histories. The book details strategies to promote psychological change and teaches techniques (active visualization, classical meditation) that encourage cancer victims to fight the disease. Critical of doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel who regard the afflicted primarily as machines to repair, Le Shan urges patients to insist on their rights to humane and conscientious care: "Many doctors are so completely oriented to fighting disease and ignoring the sick person that, in catastrophic illness, they often seem to be asking themselves: 'How many heroic measures and mutilating operations can be charged to the patient (orto the insurance company) before death--the final method of consumer resistance--is allowed to intervene?' " His advice on overcoming the often debilitating lay and professional attitudes surrounding the cancer sufferer is eminently sound. Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

LeShan, noted therapist and popular author of books on the mind/body connection, including You Can Fight For Your Life: Emotional Factors in the Treatment of Cancer ( LJ 4/15/77), offers further advice for people dealing with cancer. Writing from an inspiring, holistic-oriented perspective, LeShan says that the crisis of cancer offers many positive possibilities for the sufferer--healing, a new life, a peaceful death, the unlocking of inner resources, and the uncovering of hidden self-knowledge. He also gives practical counsel on dealing with hospital stays and practicing meditation, and discusses the human need for a meaningful death. Recommended for public libraries with holistic health or New Age interest.
- Judith Eannarino, George Washington Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 2nd Revised ed. edition (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452271371
• ISBN-13: 978-0452271371
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Turning Point, March 21, 2000

By 

Julie King (Redwood City, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cancer As a Turning Point: A Handbook for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Health Professionals (Paperback)

This book was integral in my coming to grips with my own cancer and how to get on with my life in a meaningful way. I have shared it with many others, both those with cancer and others who are not cancer patients but who are introspective and ALL have found it to profoundly change their lives. It continues to be a powerful tool in my life.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cancer As a Turning Point: A Handbook for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Health Professionals (Paperback)

Thank you LeShan for writing this book. The ideas are timely and clear, though he pulls no punches -- for many people it's either change your mind and life, or that's it. His stories are excellent, and not only the "successes" are here. The best mind/body book I've read.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accounts of the emotional aspects of fighting cancer, January 5, 1999

By 

Rusty Hoge "cforyourself.com" (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cancer As a Turning Point: A Handbook for People with Cancer, Their Families, and Health Professionals (Paperback)

LeShan discusses how purpose and fulfillment in life play a crucial role in who gets cancer and who beats cancer. He worked with hundreds of patients over many years and his conclusions make sense and provide a message to everyone.

Highly recommended.