“Greer (Change Your Story, Change Your Life) shares his knowledge of shamanic and Jungian healing techniques in straight forward terms that relate to being connected with spiritual and natural energy fields. Throughout the book, Greer encourages readers to write their own health stories in order to address elements of their lives that hinder a healthy lifestyle and impede transformation. He provides many exercises for connecting with energy fields and raising spiritual awareness, as well as stories of people he's worked with who have undergone common and uncommon transformations. In addition to meticulously delineating the contexts and origins of various patient ailments, Greer discusses the benefits he says are provided by Jungian and shamanic healing. This book is not a quick read, nor is it intended to be; in order for one's health story to be improved, the shamanic and Jungian techniques learned by reading this book are intended to be used together, which can take some time. Greer is an encouraging guide, instructing readers to refrain from rushing and only continue through the exercises when ready. For those willing to listen, an abundance of help can be found here.”—Publishers Weekly
“Whatever health situation you might be facing, Change the Story of Your Health can help identify your health story and uses journaling and expanded awareness practices to begin changing it, leading to better health and wellness. As a companion to his book Change Your Story, Change Your Life, Greer offers Shamanic and Jungian techniques to gain insights and energies for changing an unsatisfying health story. Besides journaling, he offers ways to dialog and interact with the earth, a river, wind, or fire. He also engages the chakras, dreams, symptoms, and the inner healer. Change the Story of Your Health is very much a work book, not one to be read and set aside. It could be overwhelming due to the depth to which one could be led. However, it is the kind of book that could be life-changing and truly healing. This makes the risk of dipping in more than worth it.”—New Spirit Journal
“In this guide to improving wellness, the author suggests new frameworks for mentally and emotionally relating to health. Greer (Change Your Story, Change Your Life, 2014) focuses this book on the thoughts and feelings associated with health conditions and goals not the physical realities. An experienced clinical psychologist, he suggests Jungian and shamanic practices as mainly enhancements to health treatments, not replacements. But in this guide, he artfully illustrates the power of imagination, attitude, and narrative in the way a human approaches, overcomes, or lives with medical conditions. Exploring the chakras and their links to certain physical sensations or discomforts, the author suggests emotional connections that may influence physical conditions in certain areas of the body. For example, the fifth chakra, which is associated with the thyroid and throat, is also linked to speaking truths and communicating. Difficulty swallowing, sore throats, thyroid problems, and vocal cord conditions can be associated with suppressing emotions or having trouble interacting. Greer suggests that practices aligning and balancing the chakras can ease these discomforts. In addition, the author uses anecdotes about patients who alleviated certain physical conditions like rheumatoid arthritis by releasing repressed emotional energy, such as anger at a spouse, rather than bottling up the feelings. Unlike other books of this genre, Greer's well-researched work suggests "revising" the story of one's health. Stories, he explains in this quiet and medically sound guide, define individuals' lives and their beliefs about themselves. People hold stories subconsciously that they must break out of and rewrite in order to make changes. He suggests working with dreams, archetypes, symbols, and conversations with different embodiments of source energy to ground individuals and revise the stale stories about who they are. Readers seeking to explore new ways to develop their inner calm, balance, self-love, and optimal physical health should find this approach refreshing and full of possibilities. An appealing, helpful, and intriguing new approach to dealing with physical limitations and conditions.—Kirkus Reviews
“For anyone looking for how to cope with health issues, including an accident or recent illness, Change the Story of Your Health is a valuable resource. As a Jungian analyst, Carl Greer guides us how to unfold the power of our health story through journaling and expanded awareness practices to contact our "inner healer." He also recommends shamanic journeying, working with nature, dreams, and the chakras. In the chapter "Consciousness, Energy and the Body," he writes about the emotional stressors such as thoughts that trigger fear, anger, tension, and emotional problems that disturb the physical body that can be helped through shamanic practices. He encourages readers to "write out the story of your health" which includes good habits, challenges, connections, partnering, family history, stress, goals, themes and concerns about mortality, and how to "revise the story" as time passes, the body ages, or new health issues arise. He recommends using the expanded-awareness practice of dialoging in relationships and groups to help create a healing environment or community.”—Light of Consciousness magazine
“Carl Greer offers and interesting and original perspective on what it takes to be healthy and even to turn around states of ill health. The author is a fascinating combination of clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst and shamanic practitioner, and it's the mind-magic synthesis of these skills that makes this book so unique and useful. The first step is for the reader to understand what beliefs they have their story that might be determining their physical and emotional challenges and how they play out in their body and their health. To arrive at an understanding of what is going on under the surface of our conscious mind, Greer suggests a number of techniques, including meditation and journaling, as well as detailed questionnaires to lead the reader through an exploration of his or her own issues. The underlying message is that one first needs to understand how you got to where you are and then take responsibility for reframing your mind/story in order to open the way towards regaining your health. There are obviously many factors that play into one's state of health, however Greer makes a very powerful case for the most important of these being one's beliefs. Shamanic techniques like journeying and connecting with the healing power of nature are also described in detail, as is the very sensible observation that as time passes your health story does change. How rapidly and in what direction is, he suggests, up to the individual. It's all a matter of choice, focus and practice.”—New Consciousness magazine
“In Change the Story of Your Health, clinical psychologist Carl Greer explains how to create a transformative health story using shamanic and Jungian techniques. The unconscious power of stories unlocks opportunities for healing as well as improved vitality, confidence, and stamina. "Always remember that you are the storyteller," writes Greer, "and you do not have to live according to the dictates of a story written for you by your DNA, your past experiences and actions, or your cultural conditioning." Greer recommends writing the story of your health by focusing on four health chapters or themes: eating, drinking, and weight; movement and exercise; sexuality, body image, and body acceptance; and symptom management for chronic health conditions. For each chapter, he poses a page-plus of questions to expand thinking about the theme. Next, the deep work begins. Exercises based on shamanic and Jungian archetypes are described to encourage greater health insights. These include working with elements in nature; dialoging with figures, symbols, and spirit animals; and dream work. Preparation is discussed, and journaling afterward to bring the story to life is recommended. Despite its use of alternative techniques, the book is practical, and is presented in a straightforward manner. Mini case studies show others' experiences with the energy exercises, and the changes they made as a result. Greer makes clear that the intention of this work is to complement and enhance, not replace, western medicine. He recommends that clients check with a medical doctor as symptoms are uncovered, and he relates some of his own health challenges. Learning about the latest research, assistive devices, and medical interventions is encouraged. The work described here will take time, but anyone interested in improving health challenges or who is curious about alternative healing techniques will find this to be an insightful guide.”—Karen Ackland, Foreword Reviews
“Change the Story of Your Health: Using Shamanic and Jungian Techniques for Healing discusses alternative medical traditions that inject spirituality into the overall fields of physical and mental health, and comes from a clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst who has used these techniques, in conjunction with Western medicine, to help his own physical ailments and those of his clients. While a growing number of alternative medical books add a spiritual dimension, what is unusual in Change the Story of Your Health is its blend of specific Jungian techniques with shamanic approaches usually relegated to new age audiences; all this bundled with an attention to physical and personal health challenges that range from the effects of aging to sexuality and serious health ailments. Chapters advocate a series of practices designed to manage and mitigate these various obstacles to mental and physical health, and so readers receive the tools and specific exercises to incorporate new lifestyles, exercise, meditation and reflective strategies into their overall health routines. The focus is on identifying blocks to health, more fully understanding one's current state of health and the keys to maintaining or improving it, and on applying journaling and dialoging techniques to expand self-awareness and tap inner resources for healing. An affinity for self-examination, self-directed exercises, and Jungian and shamanic approaches alike will be a prerequisite for successfully utilizing this book. Readers determined to take charge of their path towards optimal health will find Change the Story of Your Health contains a treasure trove of step-by-step processes designed to lend insights into and modifications to overall health and approaches to life.”—Midwest Book Reviews California Bookwatch
“Change the Story of Your Health offers a unique approach to self-exploration and healing. Drawing from traditional Shamanism and Jungian principles, Greer captures the essence of connecting with nature and tapping into a greater spiritual awareness. Written in an informative yet accessible way, he reveals what he has learned on his health journey in the hopes that it will inspire and motivate others. Whether you're looking to maintain wellness as you age, manage a chronic illness or simply improve your overall well being, this book will guide you every step of the way. As a clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst and shamanic practitioner, Greer provides a fresh perspective on Shamanism and Jung's ancient wisdom, and gives the reader practical tools they can apply to their everyday lives.”—Rose Caiola, Rewire Me magazine
About the Author
Carl Greer PhD, PsyD is a retired clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst, and shamanic practitioner. After focusing on business for many years, he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology, and then became a Jungian analyst. The shamanic work he does is drawn from a blend of North American and South American indigenous trainings and is influenced by Jungian analytic psychology. He has trained with Peruvian shamans and through Dr. Alberto Villoldo's Healing the Light Body School, where he has been on staff. He has worked with shamans in South America, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, and Outer Mongolia. Carl Greer is involved in various businesses and philanthropies, taught at the Jung Institute in Chicago, was on the staff of the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being, and held workshops on shamanic topics.
Learn more at CarlGreer.com
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
“Change the Story of Your Health deals with the important topic of the stories we carry about our own health. We may develop these stories out of a sense that we are born with a genetic destiny and our health history is preordained. Other stories are written through experiences with our health that bring us face-to-face with our mortality at vulnerable times in our life. And other stories that we have held precious must change when we receive a new diagnosis and we are challenged to envision a future that is different than expected, yet still beautiful. Throughout this book, Carl Greer weaves in true stories from his patients, journal prompts, and instructions for shamanic journeys, providing a practical guide to understanding your relationship to your health story. Many people suffer when they define themselves by their illnesses and by traumatic experiences related to their concepts of health and mortality.
Healing isn’t just something that comes from medicine or surgeries; it comes from a shift in the way we perceive ourselves and our connection to our health and our bodies. The mind is powerful; our thoughts and beliefs make a difference in how we feel and how we respond to threats to our well-being. It is possible to create new stories or views of ourselves that not only change our emotional well-being but also our physical health. I am honored to be a small part of bringing Carl’s influence to others.
[An] enlightening book . . . ”
―Melinda Ring, MD, FACP, Executive Director, Northwestern Medicine Osher Center for Integrative Medicine Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Coauthor of The Natural Menopause Solution and Coeditor of Integrative Medicine, An Issue of Primary Care
