Heal Yourself! How to Harness Placebo Power

Doctors think they heal with drugs. But only living cells can heal. When something is out of balance, your cells move to correct it because bodies want to be well. HEAL YOURSELF! HOW TO HARNESS PLACEBO POWER shows how to tap into this mysterious process to get well and stay well by harnessing your body's natural healing power—the power of placebo.

These amazing effects are not just "in the mind." They can be observed and measured in the body's physiology. When patients believe in the treatment, ulcers heal, warts disappear, cancer goes into remission, swelling reduces—cells actually look different under the microscope. When your doctor believes in the treatment, the impact is even more powerful —not in every case, of course. But in enough that science now accepts that something is going on!

HEAL YOURSELF! explains how researchers believe that the stress response creates an environment that promotes physiological breakdown, while the relaxation Response creates a healing environment. HEAL YOURSELF! offers specific things you can do, and do today, to turn on your body's innate healing mechanisms, including meditation, prayer, laughter, listening to music and rocking, Qi Gong, gratitude and forgiveness, and more.

Beverly A. Potter, PhD (“Docpotter”) earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from Stanford University and her masters in vocational rehabilitation counseling from San Francisco State University. She is a corporate trainer, public speaker and has authored a number of books on workplace issues like overcoming job burnout, managing yourself for excellence, high performance goal setting, mediating conflict, and more. Her website—docpotter.com—is pack with useful information Docpotter was a member of the staff development team at Stanford University for nearly twenty years and on the faculty for Berkeley Executive Seminars for City Managers sponsored by University of California School of Public Policy for 8 years. She provided management skill workshops for working professionals through DeAnza College Short courses, UC Berkeley Extension, San Francisco State Downtown Program, West Valley College, Foothill College, Diablo College, and others. Docpotter develops specialized training for corporations, including Hewlett Packard, Cisco Systems, Genentech, Sun Microsystems, Tap Plastics, GTE Strategic Systems, TRW-CI; governmental agencies including Department of Energy, IRS Revenue Officers, State of California Disability Evaluation; and associations such as State Bar of California.

Introduction

Part I
2. Traditional Views of Healing
3. What is the Placebo Effect?
4. What is the Nacebo Effect?
5. Role of Positive Belief in Healing
6. The Power of Prayer to Heal
6. What Happens When Stressed?
7. How the Relaxation Response Promotes Healing
8. What are Doctors to do?

Part II
9. How to Turn on the Body's Innate Healing Mechanisms
10. Engage Prayer
11. Change Your Self-Talk
12. Rock 'n Roll - Power of Repetitive Movement
13. How to Relax
14. Exercise
15. Laugh Out Loud
16. Take a Warm Bath
17. Do a Good Deed
18. Wear Rose Colored Glasses
19. Watch Funny Movies
20 Take a Walk
21. Pet Your Dog, Cat