20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great credentials - interesting points - makes you think, July 18, 2000
This review is from: Heartbreak and Heart Disease: A Mind/Body Prescription for Healing the Heart (Paperback)
Dr. Sinatra is both a cardiologist and a psychologist, a rare and useful combination. The thesis of this book is stated way back on page 239:
"My patients have taught me so much about the preciousness of life. If you want to heal or prevent heart disease, the first step is recognition o fold wounds, losses and your emotional reactions to them. The next step is mobilizing those trapped energies and feelings and discharging them in ways that are nurturing to your heart. Following a healthy lifestyle is another significant step toward obtaining optimum health. The final step in healing is to realize the profound depth of spirituality and how heart disease can, indeed, be a messenger of something more."
His objectives are to answer his questions listed in his Preface as follows: 1) To what extent do emotional factors and one's own intrinsic personality play a part in heart disease? 2) Are suppressed feelings and emotions significant? 3)Do negative feelings such as abandonment, heartbreak, betrayal or humiliation create conditions that invite death? 4) What do positive emotions such as love, faith, and good humor play in the process of healing and staying well? 5) What is the significance of the way we breathe?
Dr. Sinatra takes us through his medical training and explains his reasons for pursuing a degree in psychology. As the above selection says, he emphasizes the role of heartbreak and loss in the child to the eventual heart diseased adult. He explains the concept of narcissistic injury, how the narcissistic parent inflicts it on the child, and the consequences in later years.
He prescribes his heart disease reversal program which is based on established findings in cardiology, but also on his training and knowledge as a bioenergetic psychologist. His program seems a little out of the ordinary since it resembles alternative medicine, but he describes it in a way that makes sense.
The only shortcoming of this book, in my opinion, is his case histories since they do not seem to relate to his points very well. They could be omitted or put in an appendix.
As a heart patient, I learned much from this book, and recommend it.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank you Dr. Sinatra., February 9, 2001
This review is from: Heartbreak and Heart Disease: A Mind/Body Prescription for Healing the Heart (Paperback)
After discovering I had a very serious heart arythmia, I went on a quest to find information on how I could treat the root of my condition instead of just taking drugs (that had serious side effects). This book has literally changed my life. I currently am doing very well using what I learned from this book and drinking a Hawthorne Berry tea. This book is very deep, authentic and comprehensive. I have no ties to the author and I must say that if you know anyone with a heart condition who is willing to do some self examination, this book will give them incredibly important and useful information.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Honest, Informative, and Personal Book, March 2, 2011
This review is from: Heartbreak and Heart Disease: A Mind/Body Prescription for Healing the Heart (Paperback)
In the 1980s Dr Sinatra trained with Alexander Lowen in bioenergetic therapy. They collaborated on Lowen's book
Love, Sex, & Your Heart but perhaps Dr Sinatra did not get to fully place his vision in that book, because this seems to be his version of a book on love and the heart. Both books are enormously informative. I am always incredibly impressed when someone with a reputation to upheld is honest and revealing about personal suffering, as Dr Sinatra is here. In his current website, Dr Sinatra seems more interested in nutritional approaches, than in emotional or bodywork approaches. I am curious why that is.
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