How Healing Works by Wayne Jonas, MD

If you have ever been faced with a serious health issue, you may have struggled with our Western health care system and wondered what else would be the most helpful to heal from whatever it is that you are facing.

How Healing Works by Wayne Jonas, MD, is an interesting read for those who want to find healing for themselves or for those who are interested in health care in general. Jonas divides this book into three sections: Rethinking Healing, The Dimensions of Healing, and Your Healing Journey. He also includes appendices for additional resources to help on your personal healing journey. Jonas shares a lot of people's case studies throughout the book, including that of his wife. He also shares how he used research to learn how healing works--and how healing can't always be measured but that doesn't mean it won't work. He tells stories of those who were clearly healed in spite of methods that couldn't be quantified. Dr. Jonas initially comes at the research and case studies as a skeptic and studies healing practices from all angles. However, he also shares how we are more than just bodies of chemicals and cells and to get the best healing, a patient and physician need to factor in the whole body of mind, spirit, and environment, along with the body.  In the end, he encourages you to create your own integrative medicine approach if there isn't an integrative health clinic in the area. He has  extra helps in the appendices designed to use as a patient either alone or with your doctor. He encourages readers to give a copy of the book to their doctor too if they can't get their doctor to look at their case holistically. Dr. Jonas is a well-educated doctor with over forty years of experience in health care.

I found How Healing Works to be a fascinating read. I liked Jonas style. He writes in such a way that a layman can easily understand what he is saying. Yet, he presents each case study and type of healing with a sort of "prove it to me" attitude. I have felt for some time that we need this kind of true health-care reform in our country that Jonas talks about in How Healing Works. Some of what he shares wasn't new to me because I read a lot of alternative and integrative health care related books, but I also learned some new things in this book and gained a better handle on creating my own integrative health care plan as there isn't a good integrative clinic in my area. I truly wish we had an integrative health care system somewhere in my area that looked at each person holistically like Jonas suggests, instead of the standard Western health care model. I would recommend How Healing Works to everyone with an interest in health care, whether as a patient, advocate for a patient or a health care worker.

I received How Healing Works from the publisher and Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for the book.

About the Author

WAYNE JONAS, MD, is a widely published investigator, practicing family physician, and professor of medicine at Georgetown University and at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. He is also a retired lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps of the United States Army. Dr. Jonas was the director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health from 1995 to 1999 and led the World Health Organization’s Collaborative Center for Traditional Medicine. Prior to that, he served as the director of medical research fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He now advises national and international organizations on ways to implement evidence-based healing practices in their medical systems. Visit drwaynejonas.com.