The healing paradox a revolutionary approach to treating and curing physical and mental illness

• Main Author: Goldsmith, Steven 1945- (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Berkeley, CA North Atlantic Books 2013
• Subjects: Complementary Therapies > methods; Philosophy, Medical
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: xiv, 301 pages illustrations 23 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references.
• ISBN: 9781583946169; 1583946160

Why does Western medicine fail to cure chronic physical and mental illness? Why do so many treatments and drugs work only for a limited time before eventually losing effectiveness or producing harmful side effects? Dr. Steven Goldsmith's answer is at once counterintuitive and commonsensical: the root of the problem is our combative approach. Instead of resisting and fighting our ailments, we should cooperate with and even embrace them. We should look for and apply treatments that are integrated with the causes of illness, not regard illness as an enemy to conquer. This hair of the dog principle is already widely evident in practice. Take, for example, vaccines and inoculations, which are small doses of the microbes that cause the diseases being prevented; the use of the stimulant Ritalin to calm and ground people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; and radiation, which is both a well-known cause of cancer and a well-known method of treating it. These are just a few of Goldsmith's many examples, which he relays in clear, evocative, and thought-provoking language. Perhaps most compelling of all, he explores reasons why this clearly effective principle is ignored by Western medicine. Drawing on fascinating case studies and personal experiences from his forty-year career as a medical doctor and psychiatrist--as well as abundant clinical, experimental, and public health data that support his seemingly paradoxical assertion--Dr. Goldsmith presents an exciting, revolutionary approach that will change the way you think about medicine and psychotherapy