The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine

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W. W. Norton & Company, 2009 M02 16 - 336 pages

"A splendid history of mind-body medicine...a book that desperately needed to be written." —Jerome Groopman, New York Times

Is stress a deadly disease on the rise in modern society? Can mind-body practices from the East help us become well? When it comes to healing, we believe we must look beyond doctors and drugs; we must look within ourselves. Faith, relationships, and attitude matter.

But why do we believe such things? From psychoanalysis to the placebo effect to meditation, this vibrant cultural history describes mind-body healing as rooted in a patchwork of stories, allowing us to make new sense of our suffering and to rationalize new treatments and lifestyles.

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Contents

Acknowledgments
9
Introduction Stories Science
15
Chapter One The Power of Suggestion
31
Chapter Two The Body That Speaks
67
Chapter Three The Power of Positive Thinking
103
Chapter Four Broken by Modern Life
139
Chapter Five Healing Ties
175
Chapter Six Eastward Journeys
205
Conclusion Making Sense
243
Notes
257
Select Bibliography
299
Index
323
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About the author (2009)

Anne Harrington is the Franklin L. Ford Professor of the History of Science and faculty dean of Pforzheimer House at Harvard University. She is the author of four books, including Mind Fixers and The Cure Within. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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