Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92654 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781591810643
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
By reading this book patients can be empowered to help themselves to heal their lives and cure their bodies. -- Bernie Siegel, MD, author of Love, Medicine and Miracles

Clarke has done a truly remarkable job of clarifying the essence of how mind and body interact in human illness. -- Douglas A. Drossman, MD, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Co-Director, UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders, Chapel Hill, NC

Clarke wonderfully gives us, doctors and patients alike, keys to pro-active self-help for troubles made worse by anxiety and stress. -- Howard Spiro, MD, Professor of Medicine, Yale Medical School; author of The Power of Hope

I found the book extremely valuable. The rich array of examples illustrates the therapeutic efficacy of skillful clinical listening. -- Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA; author of From Detached Concern to Empathy

They Can't Find Anything Wrong! is a spectacular accomplishment. -- Erik Fromme, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology & Oncology, Palliative Medicine) Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR

About the Author
Dr. Clarke is a clinical assistant professor of medicine with Oregon Health Sciences University and a clinical lecturer with Pacific University, and has had a private practice since 1984. He developed an award-winning monthly seminar on stress illness, and local doctors have given their patients 50,000 copies of his brochure on this topic. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

The solution to stress induced illness
I highly recommend this book.

There have been many books about stress induced illness.

Dr. Sarno is probably the most well known in the area of stress induced pain. His book, "Healing Back Pain" has been a best seller. Thousands of people have recovered from back pain without surgery as a result of his books. Many patients have problems accepting his theory because it is somewhat technical. They state that "the pain is real; it is not in my head," which of course is true but misses the point. Dr. Sarno recommends therapy for those who have followed his treatment program but still have pain.

It appears that, although thousands have recovered, many do not recover completely from stress induced pain and remain pain free for the rest of their lives. The pain frequently comes back, moves around and never seems to go away. This situation is a common complaint on the back pain forums. Dr. Clarke's book provides an answer.

Dr. Clarke refers to stress induced pain as "stress illness." His treatment consists of uncovering the emotions that are causing the stress and developing a course of action to react to these emotions and eliminate the pain.

Dr. Clarke interviews his patient until he finds the cause of the stress and then guides his patient to a solution to eliminate the stress. He has been following this procedure with remarkable success at the rate of approximately 400 patients a year for over 20 years.

At the present time, mainstream medicine does not understand stress illness and their patients suffer accordingly.

Neither Dr. Sarno's nor Dr. Clarke's treatments can be considered alternative medicine. The treatments are more appropriately described as procedures to be followed as a result of a correct diagnosis of the patient's problem.

Dr. Clarke doesn't try to convince the patient of Dr. Sarno's theory, that is, that the pain is the result of repressed rage. Dr. Clarke just goes ahead looking for the cause of the stress and suggests a way to eliminate it. He is successful and the patient is cured. This is adequate proof of the correct diagnosis.

The case studies are fascinating. He seems to have the ability and technique of a therapist but his procedures are not too difficult to follow and can be very helpful to the reader. He guides the patient in discovering the cause of the stress and the relationship to the pain.

Dr. Clarke maintains that the emotions that create the stress must be uncovered. Sometimes just the knowledge of the emotions involved is sufficient as illustrated in his case studies, but sometimes further action is required of the patient. This is an excellent book for understanding the complete process of resolving stress illness pain. Dr. Clarke's desire is that it be a self help book.

Mainstream medicine has been slow in accepting the concept that stress causes pain. Dr. Sarno has been the pioneer; Dr. Clarke is continuing the process. Some day, hopefully, mainstream medicine will have the knowledge of the correct diagnosis and cure their patients that are now in the process of continued suffering.

This book is a treat. It is a page turner. It is also one of the most helpful books on the subject of pain from stress. I predict that it will become a classic.

Superb read
As a fellow digestive disease specialist, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of Dr. Clarke's superb work. Patients with years of distress and negative tests with no answers, hunger for not only relief of their symptoms, but also for respect, understanding, and dignity. The answers to their problems are not easily found, and do not conveniently lie at the tip of yet another endoscope or costly imaging procedure. Instead, sensitive, caring, and sophisticated investigation is required, the kind rarely taught in formal teaching programs. This book is a key for that puzzle; a crucial addition to any physician's library and for anyone dealing with a chronic physical problem. After all, even those of us with identifiable diseases often have superimposed and complicating stress components.
The writing is compelling, touching, and replete with hope,inspiration, and healing via guided self-discovery. Dr. Clarke's book is required reading in understanding the complexities of the human physical condition - theoretically evolved to perfection after thousands of years, only to be brought to its knees by stress illnesses induced by the dysfunction of family systems, abuse, and personal tragedy.

One of the Lucky Few!
I'm one of the lucky few who discovered I had a stress illness. Mine was PTSD, but Dr. Clarke's so clearly illustrates how many of us get seriously ill before we get treatment for the effects of life's traumas. This book is filled with lessons for all of us; it's great medicine.

Deborah Dozier Potter, author of Let Buster Lead, discovering Love, Post-Traumatic Stress and Self-Acceptance