Beyond drugs, beyond technology, there will always be the human element, the healer's art. Dr. Cassell discusses the world of the sick, the healing connection and healer's battle, the role of omnipotence in the healer's art, illness and disease, and overcoming the fear of death. Eric J. Cassell, M.D., is an internist and clinical director of the Program for the Study of Ethics and Values in Medicine at Cornell Medical School. His two-volume work Talking with Patients: The Theory of Doctor-Patient Communication, and Clinical Technique, is available from The MIT Press in cloth and paperback.

Spoken language is the most important diagnostic and therapeutic tool in medicine, and, according to Dr. Cassell, "we must be as precise with it as a surgeon with a scalpel." In these two volumes, he analyzes doctor-patient communication and shows how doctors can use language for the maximum benefit of their patients. Throughout, Dr. Cassell stresses that patients are complex, changing, psychological, social and physical beings whose illnesses are well represented by their own communication. He proposes that both listening and speaking are arts that can be learned best when they are based on the way that spoken language functions in medicine. Accordingly, Volume I focuses on the workings of spoken language in the clinical setting. It analyzes such important aspects of speech as paralanguage (non-word phenomenon like pause, pitch, and speech rate), how patients describe themselves and their illnesses, the logic of conversation, and the levels of meanings of words. Volume II is a practical, detailed, how to guide that demonstrates the process of history taking and how the doctor can learn the most from the information that the patient has to offer. His arguments are amply illustrated in both volumes by transcripts of real interactions between patients and their doctors.

Heal yourself and your community with this proven 12-week program that uses the arts to awaken your innate healing abilities. From musicians in hospitals to quilts on the National Mall—art is already healing people all over the world. It is helping veterans recover, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, and bringing communities together to improve their neighborhoods. Now it’s your turn. Through art projects, including visual arts, dance, writing, and music, along with spiritual practices and guided imagery, Healing with the Arts gives you the tools to address what you need to heal in your life—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. An acclaimed twelve-week program lauded by hospitals and caretakers from around the world, Healing with the Arts gives you the ability to heal your family and your friends, as well as communities where you’ve always wanted to make a difference. Internationally known leaders in the arts in medicine movement, Michael Samuels, MD, and Mary Rockwood Lane, RN, PhD, show you how to use creativity and self-expression to pave the artist’s path to healing.

The real crisis in medicine today is not about economics, insurance, or managed care--it's about the loss of the fundamental human relationship between doctor and patient. In this wise and passionate book, one of our most eminent physicians reacquaints us with a classic notion often overlooked in modern medicine: health care with a human face, in which the time-honored art of healing guides doctors in their approach to patient care and their use of medical technology. Drawing on four decades of practice as a cardiologist and a vast knowledge of literature and medical history, Dr. Lown probes the heart and soul of the doctor-patient relationship. Insightful and accessible to all, The Lost Art of Healing describes how true healers use sympathetic listening and touch to hone their diagnostic skills, how language affects the perception of illness, how doctors and patients can cultivate a relationship of trust, and how patients can obtain the most complete and beneficial care through a combination of healing techniques and conventional practices. As Dr. Lown explains, the art of healing does not mean abandoning the spectacular advances of modern science, but rather incorporating them into a sensitive, humane, enlightened approach to medical care. With its urgent message and poignant, fascinating vignettes, The Lost Art of Healing is a book of vital, universal importance.

The most important ingredient in the art of healing is the art of selling. I say that with all the respect in the world for every other part of this vast system of care that has grown into a sprawling and complex three-trillion-dollar metropolis. For the last sixty or so years, the providers of care have depended on third-party entities to handle the part of selling for them. From insurance companies who sold millions of people on the importance of paying monthly premiums for health-care insurance to the government that did the same thing under the more intimidating, compulsory taxation. Today, we have come to a fork in the road where (as the system implodes) those who control the flow of monetary resources are filling their own bank accounts, leaving the people who are busy providing care on that field of battle with all supply lines cut off. Many healers are, therefore, forced to shed all the entities that have forced themselves between the doctor and her patient. Exploring their original entrepreneurial roots, allowing the patient to bypass all middlemen and pay the doctor for care directly. The trouble comes in when the healing professional steps out of a world where all the marketing was handled for them and the only thing they needed to know was how to submit a bill to a third-party payer for reimbursement. So when embarking on this new journey of building a concierge, pay-for-service practice, many are derailed by the Flat Earth Fallacy that is a perception of things as they seem but are, in reality, very different. This book then is to share some field-tested experiences that will, in all probability, save the health-care entrepreneur some pain and expense, while providing a perspective on the driving elements of success in the art of selling the art of healing.

This book introduces the origins of important teachings that form the basis of medicine and related healing professions. Reinforcing the humanistic side of patient care, this book replicates the tips, anecdotes and aphorisms often related by mentors and educators to medical students, residents, and young physicians. This book provides numerous examples of best practices in the art of medicine, profiles of great healers throughout history and around the world, and stories sure to inspire any practicing healer, whether they are new to the calling or a seasoned veteran.

Artist Kalman Aron has eclipsed evil and delved into visual truth and beauty. A Holocaust survivor, his experiences in concentration camps had a lifetime effect on his painting and his capability to convey the heart of his subjects. After the war, Aron's skills were acknowledged with a full scholarship to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and he received a master's in fine arts degree. At the end of 1949, he immigrated to America and settled in Los Angeles, a prolific and accomplished artist. Aron's media are varied and manifold - oils, pastels, acrylics, pen and ink, and watercolours - and his approach moves through a new arena of artistic expression with time. From his drawings of children, portraits, Los Angeles landscapes, and abstract drawings, among numerous other subjects, Aron has discovered healing through his art. His example is a symbol of hope and restoration. This beautifully illustrated book is a visual testament to that hope. AUTHOR: Susan Beilby Magee, graduate of Pomona College and Wharton and formerly a White House Fellow, is a certified hypnotherapist with 25 years experience in the healing arts. ILLUSTRATIONS: 200 colour & 50 b/w illustrations

The comforting assurance of "The Healer's Art" is that a loving Christ can (and may) heal us physically, but where for whatever reason physical healing is not possible, the Lord can and will rescue faithful souls from heartache, fear, and discouragement.

Art Healing: Visual Art for Emotional Insight and Well-Being reveals a method psychiatrist and art lover Jeremy Spiegel, MD, devised over many years to unlock our more elusive thoughts and feelings, leading to an enhanced understanding of the inner self, catharsis, a sense of comfort and happiness, and personal transformation for a more productive life.

Centering around a very powerful meditation exercise called the Middle Pillar, through which one can stimulate body, mind, and spirit all together, The Art of True Healing teaches readers to focus energy in a variety of ways for improving their health, success, and ability to help others.