Customer Reviews

Radical Healing: Integrating the World's Great Therapeutic Traditions to Create a New Transformative Medicine

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For over 600 pages Mr Ballentine makes a heroic attempt to put together a series of Alternative Healing Systems. I was afraid when I picked this book up that it was written by a novice who only copied introductions to these various systems, like many other books. But it is obvious that Dr Ballentine has used all of these systems to treat patients with varing conditions, rather than copying. And he has successfully combined them to treat patients.

But does he succeed to explain all? I would have to say in my specialty Homeopathy, he has not had room to go very deep. In Chinese medicine which I know little about, he introduces concepts of elements and then does little with them. On the other hand the book is a BRILLIANT treasure chest ideas and insights to the ultimate nature of health and disease and the interaction of mental states and subtle alternative to conventional Allopathic Medicine. I was high-lighting every other page! If he meerly shows people there are many many different ways to treat disease other than Conventional Medicine and that each of these has a separate domain of effectiveness, he will ultimately succeed. But the subject is so big, he could explore it in more books for years and not cover all of the subject.

Flower remedies are, as far as I know, totally without side effects.

Homeopathic Remedies, are MOSTLY side effect free. Most are available over the counter. Sure Homeopathy can produce miraculous, "soul-altering" cures, but Dr Ballentine does not state that these remedies are most effective if taken for a limited time, no more than a month, and sometimes less . If Homeopathic remedies are taken longer than that, they become ineffective and if taken still longer they can be "proved", ie, they will exacerbate the symptoms they originally cured. People used to conventional medicine, who take pills the conventional doctors hand them forever, need to be aware of these limitations. I would not recommend anyone take Homeopathic potencies over 200C unless they know what they are doing! Or better, over 30C.

The Appendix where he puts togther all 600 pages, may be the most useful part of the book, as he states.

What is impossible to cure in Conventional Medicine, like the common cold, can often be easily, gently, safely and effectively treated by other means WITH NO SIDE EFFECTS.

But I congratulate his effort. More work like this needs to be done. I have been lecturing for years that you and I, not doctors, are ultimatelty responsible for our own health. He explains this in very clear terms.

Buy it! You'll need it. You can achieve a higher level of health than meerly the absence of obvious disease. It could change your life.

Radical Healing is sensational. Rudolph Ballentine uses clear, concise language, using lots of examples from years of clinical practice, to show how the body and the subtle energies (chi, prana, spirit)are interrelated, and how different modalities--homeopathy, herbs, breathwork, etc.--affect both the physical, mental, emotional, and energetic levels. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how various alternative traditions work--and why! It's a great primer for self healing, too.

The kind of medicine Dr. Ballentine practices may be "radical" by today's standards, but I hope not for long!

As Dr. Ballentine notes, "Resorting to a drug to correct a human problem is analogous to dealing with a computer glitch by grabbing a screwdriver and trying to rewire its circuits. . . . when a few judicious taps on the right keys could modify the operating system and reprogram the malfunction out of existence." Dr. Ballentine has done us a service by sharing what he has learned about healing. This is one of the best books on healing and "alternative" medicine around.

With a near saturation of books on various holistic healing modalities available, Dr. Ballentine's Radical Healing is uniquely refreshing. The book presents a unique integration of time honored eastern and western healing modalities such as Homeopathy, Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Native American Herbalism, and Flower Essences. Ballentine presents numerous case studies and personal experiences throughout his decades of holistic practice, which add great depth to the theoretical aspects of the book. It is this combination--the hundreds or sometimes thouands of years of empirical science that healing traditions such as Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, or Homeopathy are based on--combined with Ballentine's awareness and use of intuition and the archetypes of nature, that make this book a cut above the rest. In this sense Radical Healing is truly "holistic," in that unlike overly specialized modern medicine, it addresses the entire physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of wellness and disease. Understanding that we need to view our health or disease holistically, i.e. as an interplay of all of these levels, rather than people who go to doctors to fix our "physical" problems, psychiatrists for "emotional" problems, and priests for "spiritual" problems, is indeed "Radical." However, I believe that Ballentine's vision provides an integrative model of healing for the future if we are to become responsible stewards of our bodies, minds,and our planet.

The author, Dr. Ballentine, has had a very interesting journey. With a psychiatry background, he worked in a free clinic in New Orleans in the 1960s with "flower children" who introduced him to then "alternative" concepts like yoga, meditation, and vegetarianism. With these interests more and more compelling, he decided to travel to India and began training in homeopathy and Ayurveda. He set up practicing these newfound skills in Chicago and became so successful that he founded six clinics around the city.

While the unifying concepts to Ballentine's approach are unarguable - self-awareness, transformation, and wholeness - I found myself rather disturbed by the absence of a few things in this book. Namely, the author is so pro-alternative medicine that he doesn't even pay Western medicine the lip service it's due; namely, that its strength is crisis medicine and intervention. On a similar vein, on the chapter on herbal traditions, my hackles rose with the author's claim that the reader, upon completion of the section, would be able to walk into any health food store and select a "medicinal". This without the usual disclaimers of working with a reputable practitioner, be aware of interactions if you are currently taking other medication, etc.

With that in mind, I found Ballentine's knowledge of homeopathy to be truly comprehensive and one of the best historical discussions and practical applications I've found to date in any book. Other stand out chapters include the exercise and movement chapter as well as the "Healing as Transformation" chapter which concentrates on breathwork and chakras - very well written and good advice for everyone. The resources at the end of the book are comprehensive, but I still wish that, considering the fine job explaining the complexities of various alternative/complementary traditions, that the author would have spent more time discussing how to select a reputable practitioner to accompany the individual on their journey. Still a recommended purchase for an alternative medicine library.

I was captivated by the wealth of useful information found in this book, ranging from homeopathic medicines and working with doshas to spiritual health and prevention. The writing is intelligent, and the tables, pictures and detailed experiences helped me understand the concepts, therefore making the book fun to read. Thanks to Radical Healing, I see how important integration of medicines really is. I learned to trust my body and my judgement when it comes to my health care. I know not to rely on everything my doctor tells me, not by any fault of his own, but because he is not educated in my alternative choices. And until my health care providers realize the importance of integration and do something about it, I will continue to research my ailments and educate myself before seeking treatment. I highly recommend this book to everyone concerned about their well being and the well being of others. It will change the way you view the western way of practicing health care and perhaps get us closer to "Integrating The World's Great Therapeutic Traditions To Create A New And Transformative Medicine".

This book is very thorough in all alternative therapies and it becomes obvious that the author is a rare and true healer. Ballantine's desire for people's genuine, permanent healing is evident throughout this work. This book is ahead of its time in the sense that it presents the latest understanding of time honored Eastern and European healing methods which can be easily applied to the Western mind and body. The reader will embark upon a type of healing that western medicine could not come close to in its effectiveness and permanence in healing. State of the art technologies in the healing arts are thoroughly covered and each chapter explains real methods for the reader to begin their own healing process. The depth of the resource section at the back of the book is unbelievable! A necessary book for anyone interested in their own healing.

Quite literally, left me standing in awe. Dr. Ballentine's long, but thoroughly readable text on the integration of "old" healing methods expertly woven into a new school of "transformative medicine" is, quite frankly, a masterpiece.

As a medical doctor, just dipping my toes into the vast sea of holistic medicine, this book compelled (as well as propelled) me to plunge head-long into the waters of complementary/alternative medicine, relishing every moment of it. I had a difficult time getting through the whole book, ONLY because each chapter left me thirsting for more. I found myself constantly turning to the back references to read and expand on each topic brought up, wanting to gain more knowledge because of Dr. Ballentine's obviously wise, but humble writing style.

A classic and must-read for anyone interested in integrative/complementary/alternative medicine...or just GOOD MEDICINE, period.

The author uses his large range of experiences over 25 years and his very lucid writing style to detail the workings of herbal medicines, homoeopathic remedies & flower essences. I recommend these chapters to any lay person wishing to get an introduction to these areas. He deals with self diagnosis and detoxing, nutrition and diet, finally addressing health in terms of energy, which I find very thought proviking

Ballentine brings synthesis to integrating the historic healing systems of the world. I am an alternative practitioner specializing in bodywork and the mind-soul connection. He says plainly what I have struggled for years to explain to my clients who truely seek wholistic healing. It's all in there and it's definitely all connected. This writing allows the reader to extract information and gain understanding in an applicable manner. I refer to it often and always discover something new and timely to aide me and my clients.

It's fair in that it accomplishes what the title indicates - it does indeed integrate "the World's Great Therapeutic Traditions" - but it fails to adequately incorporate the world's greatest therapeutic tradition - traditional modern medicine.

Not all causes of illness arise in the mind. Case in point: using the book, since I have a sore throat now, I looked up "sore throat" and did the recommended "Lion" yoga exercise - I also even tried a little bit of the "cold wet cloth around neck". The "Lion" actually caused my throat to dry out, which actually aggravated the situation. The cold wet cloth didn't feel right so I stopped. Also, the stated possible cause of "Holding in anger, not expressing yourself" really didn't seem to fit the bill - I was too tired to feel like expressing anger, even in the "Lion" pose. (As a certified yoga instructor, I would have thought that something that massages the throat, such as the Cobra, would have made more sense.)

My point is that not all causes of illness arise in the mind. Certainly some do, and even those that don't might have an effect on the mind, but I think it's just plain impractical to believe that illness is all about attitude. If you do believe that, you wind up thinking (as religious types sometimes do) that everything bad that happens to you happens because of something you did wrong or believed wrong. That isn't the case. Bad stuff happens to even the best of us. Don't always be blaming yourself for your illnesses, and don't always think you've got to change your life around just because you sneezed. (I'm exaggerating to get my point across.)

So far, it hasn't become a "New Transformative Medicine" for me, but maybe it will grow on me. In the meantime, I'll only seek "alternative" health care when "traditional modern" health care doesn't cut it for me.

Other than that, the book is great - it's well written, has interested anecdotes, is easy to read, is structured in an easy to use and intuitive manner, and has more than adequate illustrations to emphasize important points. This is the first book on holistic medicine I've ever read, and I'm glad it is, because it helps me see the "big picture" of the field of holistic medicine.

So as a book I'd give it 5 stars, but I'm taking off one star for the nature of the content and another star for the failure to truly integrate "traditional modern" health care.