Published by Rodale
February 2004; $23.95US/$34.95CAN; 1-57954-902-0
Americans seek therapy in record numbers and consume more medications than ever before, yet stress, anxiety, and depression continue to rise to epidemic proportions. People can spend years on the psychoanalytic couch without making any progress. And for many psychiatrists, the prescription-writing reflex has become almost automatic, despite the fact that benefits often disappear as soon as drug treatment stops. Standard treatments simply aren't long-term solutions.
But psychiatrist/neurologist David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D., knows that we can cure our emotional pain. He's seen certain natural methods produce tremendous results in his clinical practice, in that of his peers, and even in war-torn regions where horrific memories can leave deep scars.
Numerous studies in prestigious scientific journals have documented the amazing benefits of these methods on anxiety and depression, but because the mechanisms through which they operate remain poorly understood, they've remained largely excluded from mainstream medicine and psychiatry. Dr. Servan-Schreiber explains how each of the natural methods in this ensemble treatment plan can help us escape the therapy/drug trap by working through the body to tap into the emotional brain's self-healing processes rather than relying on the cognitive process of language.
Weaving fascinating accounts of his first-hand experience and findings together with the research of hundreds of other esteemed scientists, Dr. Servan-Schreiber outlines a program that's becoming embraced throughout the world as a permanent cure for emotional pain. See how you, too, can tap into The Instinct to Heal.
Author
David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., PH.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and cofounder of the Center for Complementary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He codirected a National Institutes of Health laboratory for the study of clinical cognitive neuroscience and functional neuroimaging for several years and has published more than 90 scientific monographs. He's lectured at leading international academic centers, including Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, and Cambridge Universities. One of the original seven members of the United States board of Doctors Without Borders/Médicins Sans Frontières, he served on the board for 9 years and provided medical relief in Kurdistan, Guatemala, India, Tajikistan, and Kosovo. He continues to develop mental health interventions for victims of crises and to train therapists in crisis areas.
For more information, please visit the author's website at www.instincttoheal.org or www.writtenvoices.com
Reviews
"David Servan-Schreiber has done a brilliant job of bringing together insights and information of vital importance for well-being. The Instinct to Heal is itself an instrument of healing."
--Daniel Goleman, PH.D., bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence
"The scientist and physician David Servan-Schreiber has provided a wonderful manual to help reconcile our emotional and rational brains . . . [he] bases his advice about how to improve our lives on a profound understanding of how the human brain works, on a broad synthesis of the latest knowledge in neuropsychology, as well as his own clinical and research experience. The book is deeply satisfying intellectually, yet crystal-clear and user-friendly . . .Written with grace and elegance, this book might well become the most important mental health landmark of this generation."
--Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PH.D., bestselling author of Flow, Being Adolescent, The Evolving Self, and Creativity
"The Instinct to Heal is a fascinating account of unorthodox approaches to treating the emotional brain and mind. I learned a lot."
--Joseph LeDoux, PH.D., the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at New York University and author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self
"The Instinct to Heal is an inspiring overview of the internal healing potential that exists within everyone -- and that this potential is our birthright and is not dependent on drugs, surgical procedures, or high-tech manipulations . . . The Instinct to Heal will help anyone expand their conc
