Help Me To Heal [Hardcover]

Bernie Siegel M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2003

Every hospitalization, period of convalescence, or visit to a patient can be an opportunity for healing to happen. Since most hospitalizations are sudden and unexpected, few patients and family members are prepared to take advantage of these healing opportunities. Help Me to Heal is a "just-in-time" resource that anyone can pick up and immediately use—to help realize this great healing potential. It provides the empowering tools, strategies, and resources that will enable readers to turn their bedside environment and illness experience into a sacred space and time where healing can occur.

When patients, caregivers, and family members are provided with these strategies, they become participants in the healing process—and are then able to communicate their needs to doctors and staff simply and effectively, thereby creating a healing team where everyone is moving in the same direction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you or a loved one have to go through major medical care,...this book can be...life-saving and soul-saving." -- Andrew Weil, M.D., the New York Times bestselling author of Spontaneous Healing and
Eight Weeks to Optimum Health

"To help you survive and learn from this experience, and to heal afterwards,HELP ME TO HEAL is an invaluable resource." -- Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Beyond the Body; Reinventing Medicine; and Healing Words; executive editor, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

About the Author

Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., attended Colgate University and Cornell University Medical College. His surgical training took place at Yale New Haven Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is the bestselling author of many books including Love, Medicine & Miracles, ISBN: 0060919833; Prescriptions for Living, ISBN: 0060917059; and the audio Healing Meditations, ISBN: 1-56170-771-6.

Yosaif August, an award-winning bedside environmentalist, acquired the paient’s perspective the hard way—first as a patient and later as an advocate and caregiver for his parents. In 1995, because of his personal experiences as a patient and caregiver, he founded Healing Environments, International (HEI), a company that creates products that promote patient-centered healing. For that innovation he received the "Best of Competition" award in the 1996 Nightingale Healthcare Design Competition, First Prize/Professional Category in the 1996 Healthcare Design Competition, and a Design Award in 1998 from the American Society on Aging. Yosaif lives in Woodstock, New York, with his wife and two cats.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; First Edition edition (August 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401900372
• ISBN-13: 978-1401900373
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,851,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernie Siegel, M.D., speaks and runs workshops across the country and is devoted to humanizing medical care and medical education. His books Love, Medicine, and Miracles; Peace, Love, and Healing; and How to Live between Office Visits are classics in the field of healing. Visit Bernie at www.berniesiegelmd.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Stay Alive in a Hospital, January 28, 2004

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Help Me To Heal (Hardcover)

Bernie Siegel and Yosaif August have based their book on three main principles:

1. You have the right to heal, no matter what your life experience has been.

2. You can create a healing team.

3. You can learn to become the master of your life's time.

This book is divided into three main sections:

Part I: A Patient's Survival Guide - This section explains how you can form a healing team, protect yourself in a variety of ways (including making sure the people caring for you wash their hands) and speaking up about anything you feel might be a mistake. Chapter 3 explains what you need to know to prepare for a hospital stay. I liked the list of healing objects you can take into the hospital to make you feel less stressed. This could range from a favorite quilt to favorite music, photos, healthy snacks and your laptop computer. This section addresses issues like having a private room or sharing a room, dealing with aromas and intrusions.

Part II: Healing Strategies for Family, Friends, and Caregivers - This is a section for those who are looking after someone who is healing.

Part III: Healing Ways - An interesting section on bedside yoga, breathing exercises, stretching and massage. Instructions are given for helping the healing process with the healing power of touch.

There is an extensive resource section with ideas like "bedscapes" that can be put up on a wall to help patients feel less closed into a room.

Bernie Siegel and Yosaif August have created a beautiful gift for patients and caregivers. I also hope doctors and nurses will read this book so they can observe care from the patient's perspective.

~The Rebecca Review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for anyone who may someday go to the hospital, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Help Me To Heal (Hardcover)

I finished this book right before going in for surgery and the timing couldn't have been better. The book is described as a "practical" guidebook which is right on the mark because after reading it I felt far better prepared at making sure I got the kind of care I needed and far better at expressing those needs
Simply put, it fills a gap that has long been missing in the medical world: helping patients strengthen their rightful place in directing an important part of their own recovery. Get it for anyone you love who is about to go into the hospital - especially yourself!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Self Empowerment for hospital care, September 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Help Me To Heal (Hardcover)

This book really helps the patient to be his best advocate and navigate his way through the sometimes scary medical maze. I highly recommend it to anyone dealing with illness and doctors and health care practitioners.