Getting Well Again: The Bestselling Classic About the Simontons' Revolutionary Lifesaving Self- Awareness Techniques [Mass Market Paperback]

O. Carl Simonton M.D. (Author), James Creighton Ph.D. (Author), Stephanie Matthews Simonton (Author), Stephanie Matthews (Author), James L. Creighton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 1992

Based on the Simontons' experience with hundreds of patients at their world-famous Cancer Counseling and Research Center, Getting Well Again introduces the scientific basis for the "will to live."

In this revolutionary book the Simontons profile the typical "cancer personality": how an individual's reactions to stress and other emotional factors can contribute to the onset and progress of cancer -- and how positive expectations, self-awareness, and self-care can contribute to survival. This book offers the same self-help techniques the Simonton's patients have used to successfully to reinforce usual medical treatment -- techniques for learning positive attitudes, relaxation, visualization, goal setting, managing pain, exercise, and building an emotional support system.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Based on the Simontons' experience with hundreds of patients at their world-famous Cancer Counseling and Research Center, Getting Well Again introduces the scientific basis for the "will to live."

In this revolutionary book the Simontons profile the typical "cancer personality": how an individual's reactions to stress and other emotional factors can contribute to the onset and progress of cancer -- and how positive expectations, self-awareness, and self-care can contribute to survival. This book offers the same self-help techniques the Simonton's patients have used to successfully to reinforce usual medical treatment -- techniques for learning positive attitudes, relaxation, visualization, goal setting, managing pain, exercise, and building an emotional support system.

From the Inside Flap

Based on the Simontons' experience with hundreds of patients at their world-famous Cancer Counseling and Research Center, Getting Well Again introduces the scientific basis for the "will to live."

In this revolutionary book the Simontons profile the typical "cancer personality": how an individual's reactions to stress and other emotional factors can contribute to the onset and progress of cancer -- and how positive expectations, self-awareness, and self-care can contribute to survival. This book offers the same self-help techniques the Simonton's patients have used to successfully to reinforce usual medical treatment -- techniques for learning positive attitudes, relaxation, visualization, goal setting, managing pain, exercise, and building an emotional support system.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Reissue edition (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553280333
• ISBN-13: 978-0553280333
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Cancer
  • #70 in Books > Self-Help > Stress Management

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 73 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I got cancer, then I got this book, and I'm glad I did! November 9, 2003

By a reader

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I was recently diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and "Getting Well Again" was the first place I turned. When you get an unexpected and frightening piece of news such as I did, you need to marshal your resources and come to an understanding of what you face. Like most people, I never thought much about cancer, except that I regarded it as something dreadful and a likely death sentence. "Getting Well Again" takes you through all the questions, fears, and anxieties you have and provides constructive exercises to help you cope effectively. I cannot recommend it highly enough! By carefully reading each chapter and keeping a journal of my notes and observations, and by doing the visualizations and other exercises, I am infinitely better prepared for the challenges ahead.

The Amazon reviewer Simon Wilson, who gives the book one star, simply does not understand it. The authors never suggest that you can wish away cancer by doing simple visualizations. In fact, they are quite supportive of traditional treatments. But study after study shows that the authors, who were pioneers in the psychology of cancer, were right about the mind-body connection. Creating a loving, positive outlook toward yourself can indeed help you cure a disease or extend a remission. Those who have read Bernie Siegel's "Love, Medicine, and Miracles" know of endless accounts of such successes. It is interesting to note that Siegel's attendance at a Simonton seminar was the inspiration for his own journey into the mind-body connection in healing. I recommend his book be read in tandem with "Getting Well Again," which in turn can help you become what Siegel calls an "exceptional cancer patient" - the ones who do the best in overcoming the disease.

To sum up, I believe "Getting Well Again" is absolutely the first place to begin for anyone with a new cancer diagnosis. It is written in an intelligent, rational manner, and takes a positive approach as it encourages you to deal with some difficult issues. Be prepared to dig deep inside your soul. The reward is that you'll find plenty of hope here -- a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence but rather a sure sign that it is time to get very serious about living. It puts everything on the table, and you have to be willing to change your habits and confront your buried emotions. This book is a journey toward self-love. The end result is a sense of empowerment as you face your disease, not to mention a happier life. Ironically, now that I have leukemia, I have never felt better. I'd give this book six stars, ten stars, even a hundred, if I could.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Blame Has No Place in Healing July 4, 2007

By Jennifer A. Rae

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I am not a cancer survivor, but rather a physician interested in the mind-body connection. I have done a lot of reading in this field and am definitely a proponent of the now fairly well-established theory that the mind and body are indivisibly linked. This is good news for everyone, and means that literally all patients, with proper guidance, can be taught how to rally their mental resources to optimize their chance of recovery. This book does a good job of showing how, though (perhaps necessarily) spends nearly equal time defending it's claims with stories of healing that support its concepts.

I have one issue with this book, and it's a big one. While I wholeheartedly believe in the mind-body link, I do not believe in - nor do I support others in their belief of - a "cancer personality." In fact, the very term is loaded, in that it ascribes blame (or at least cause and effect) for one's illness squarely on the patient.

I suppose this is not surprising - there is still much that is not known about cancer - and as an "evolved" race, modern-day man is very resistant to the idea that there are still things over which we have very little control. Though well-intentioned, it is, nonetheless, a dangerous belief. Certainly I have seen patients who seem to fit Simonton's "cancer personality" - and I have seen just as many cancer patients who do not. And the unsettling fact remains that many, many people sporting Simonton's "cancer personality" to a tee will never develop cancer at all.

Ironically, the issue I have with this book is likely also at the heart of the book's popularity - human beings are unfailingly optimistic, and control-driven - we want desperately to believe we can control everything because to admit that we don't has terrifying implications - particularly for those currently facing the uncertainty of serious illness.

But our addiction to control has it's own problems - not least of which is that it flies in the face of acceptance, which is an essential step in coming to grips with major life change. Acceptance of illness does not mean accepting the inevitability of death from disease, but it does mean releasing ourselves from blame and guilt. We are all doing the best we can, all imperfect, all flawed. If disease were really caused by personality faults - even the specific ones described - we would all be doomed.

Boring and depressing though it may be to hear, cancer is probably "caused" more by genetics and environment than we want to believe. Ironically, the single biggest contributing factor to many cancers likely remains our own choices - lifestyle choices such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, unsafe sex, a poor diet and lack of sleep and exercise that we know with certainty place stress on our bodies and predispose us to all kinds of disease. Our mental attitude definitely is a part of that, and I do believe that stress can impair the healing process - and perhaps even in some cases, cause illness. But I don't believe it is at the heart of why most people get ill.

This is a valuable book which does guide patients in taking responsibility for their healing. My issue is that I think it unfairly ascribes responsibility (and blame) to the patient for becoming ill in the first place.

However, because I think this book remains a real resource to cancer patients, I do not want to give it less than three stars - I am not a cancer patient, and I would not want to be responsible for someone with cancer skipping over what for them, may be a potentially helpful resource. Illness, and especially uncertainty, are dark companions, and people need to follow their hearts as well as their minds in finding their way through difficult times. Take the good this book has to offer - but leave behind the blame. It has no place in your journey back to health.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book saved my life! August 19, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I read this book 17 years ago while I was undergoing chemotherapy and it completely changed the way I saw myself, my illness, my treatment and my prognosis. Give this book to anyone you know who has cancer and help to save their lives. I agree entirely with the previous reviewer, this book is a MUST, as important as the conventional therapy you receive.