Healing and the Mind [Paperback]

Bill Moyers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

At last, the paperback edition of the monumental  best-seller (almost half a million copies in  print!) that has changed the way Americans think about  sickness and health -- the companion volume to the  landmark PBS series of the same name. In a  remarkably short period of time, Bill Moyers's  Healing And The Mind has become a  touchstone, shaping the debate over alternative medical  treatments and the role of the mind in illness and  recovery in a way that few books have in recent  memory. With almost half a million copies in print,  it is already a classic -- the most widely read  and influential book of its kind. In a series of  fascinating interviews with world-renowned experts  and laypeople alike, Bill Moyers explores the new  mind/body medicine. Healing And The  Mind shows how it is being practiced in the  treatment of stress, chronic disease, and neonatal  problems in several American hospitals; examines the  chemical basis of emotions, and their potential  for making us sick (and making us well); explores  the fusion of traditional Chinese medicine with  modern Western practices in contemporary China; and  takes an up-close, personal look at alternative  healing therapies, including a Massachusetts center  that combines Eastern meditation and Western group  therapy, and a California retreat for cancer  patients who help each other even when a cure is  impossible. Combining the incisive yet personal interview  approach that made A World Of Ideas  a feast for the mind and the provocative interplay  of text and art that made The Power Of  Myth a feast for the imagination,  Healing And The Mind is a landmark work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intriguing companion volume to a PBS TV series, Moyers explores the roles of thoughts and emotions in illness and health through interviews with 16 doctors and scientists. He visits stress-reduction clinics and a cancer patients' support group, and he investigates the new field of psychoneuroimmunology, which emphasizes the importance of patients' attitudes to optimal immune-system functioning. He also travels to China to study acupuncture, therapeutic massage and chi gong , the manipulation of vital energy to ameliorate chronic neurologic and muscular diseases. Among those interviewed are University of California physician Dean Ornish, who has reversed heart disease in patients with treatments combining meditation, stress-reduction exercises, group therapy, walking and vegetarian diet; neurobiologist David Felten, discoverer of nerve fibers that link the nervous system to the immune system; and Thomas Delbanco of Harvard Medical School who seeks ways to transform the doctor-patient relationship so that patients are more actively involved. Color and black-and-white reproductions of art by Kathe Kollwitz, Rene Magritte, Norman Rockwell, Paul Klee and others interact suggestively with the text.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

At last, the paperback edition of the monumental best-seller (almost half a million copies in print!) that has changed the way Americans think about sickness and health -- the companion volume to the landmark PBS series of the same name. In a remarkably short period of time, Bill Moyers's Healing And The Mind has become a touchstone, shaping the debate over alternative medical treatments and the role of the mind in illness and recovery in a way that few books have in recent memory. With almost half a million copies in print, it is already a classic -- the most widely read and influential book of its kind. In a series of fascinating interviews with world-renowned experts and laypeople alike, Bill Moyers explores the new mind/body medicine. Healing And The Mind shows how it is being practiced in the treatment of stress, chronic disease, and neonatal problems in several American hospitals; examines the chemical basis of emotions, and their potential for making us sick (and making us well); explores the fusion of traditional Chinese medicine with modern Western practices in contemporary China; and takes an up-close, personal look at alternative healing therapies, including a Massachusetts center that combines Eastern meditation and Western group therapy, and a California retreat for cancer patients who help each other even when a cure is impossible. Combining the incisive yet personal interview approach that made A World Of Ideas a feast for the mind and the provocative interplay of text and art that made The Power Of Myth a feast for the imagination, Healing And The Mind is a landmark work.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385476876
• ISBN-13: 978-0385476874
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid companion to the series., January 10, 2003

By 

D. Hawkins (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing and the Mind (Paperback)

With the sad state of health care in this country, Bill Moyers' engaging series looks to be quite prophetic 10 years after it first aired. As a casual observer of illness my whole life, I firmly believe that so much of what ails people is psychosomatic. Understanding how the mind works will be crucial in health care in the 21st century, as the model we currently have just isn't cutting the mustard. The book is a nice companion to the series, but the video of the Chinese lady receiving brain surgery using only acupuncture as anesthesia needs to be SEEN to be fully appreciated. My favorite video part is Jon Kabat-Zinn's use of meditation as a way of alleviating pain. I often show this Episode 3 to my classes and they are certainly fascinated. The book is a good place to start, but try to find the tapes at your local library also. P.S. Bill Moyers deserves some kind of national medal for his sustained excellence as a broadcaster!!!

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A variety of topics and approaches, June 30, 2000

By 

Courtney L. Lewis "Sassy Librarian" (Kingston, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing and the Mind (Paperback)

This book, which stayed on the bestseller list for quite some time and is the companion book for the PBS special of the same name, sprang from Moyer's friendship with Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of an Illness and from viewing his father's debilitating headaches that began after Moyer's brother died. Each chapter is an in-depth interview with various healers, some from Western traditions, some with interests in Eastern traditions. The quality of the interviews is sporadic; I felt that since Moyer's doesn't have a medical background that there were times better questions would have elicited a more interesting turn to the conversation. Some interviews will put you right to sleep unless comprehensive discussions of neuropeptides excite the heck out of you! The most informational interviews came from physicians speaking about their fears and admitting to the types of limitations and insecurities they experience in the course of practicing - and how these fears are never discussed with patients in case they should "get too close". For my purposes, the interview with Ron Anderson, CEO of Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas was particularly enlightening particularly his statement that "But as we shift to more chronic disease models, we've got to have people who are able to help take care of themselves when they go home. Chronic diseases have to be dealt with as illness in the community and in the family." (p.33) And I would add, in the workplace. I wouldn't purchase this book, but taking it out from the library for a quick skim would be fine.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cautious look into the role of alternative medicene, October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing and the Mind (Paperback)

A very conservative look from one angle of alternative medicene yields opinions from respected medical practioners that there is more to healing then completing your perscription on time. The last section, focussed on traditional Chinese Healing, is the most interesting, although Moyers can be a bit of a dolt with his constant questioning about "chi". Really really gets one thinking about what is health, and what should be the role of physicians today.