Wonderful books on alternative medicine abound! Topics relating to complementary health include history, self-help, therapies, emotions, meditation, the body, and research. A selection of excerpts from the complete list of books follows:

The American Holistic Health Association Complete Guide to Alternative Medicine. William Collinge, Ph.D., Frederick Warner & Co. New York, 1996. Describes eight broad categories covering the most commonly used alternatives, their strengths and limitations. He also addresses important issues such as patient responsibility, causes of chronic and degenerative disease, iatrogenic problems, consideration of emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of illness, how collaboration between alternative and conventional medicine is occurring, whether intended or not. There’s even more, all of which contributes to a good education in discrimination!

Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons. Report to NIH prepared by the Workshop on Alternative Medicine, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994. This wonderful piece of history of the alternative movement predating the creation of the Office of Alternative and Complementary Medicine discusses therapies, issues regarding research on medical systems that have different foundations than conventional medicine, guidelines for doing research on alternatives, and a short appendix of comments of the panel on mind-body interventions.

Dying Well: The Prospect for Growth at the End of Life. Ira Byock, M.D., Riverhead/Putnam, New York, 1997. A doctor’s description of the decisions that face patients and families regarding death. His sensitive narrative shares with readers his experiences as a hospice and palliative-care specialist, discussion on the use of pain reducing drugs, decisions about eating, being at home, and how to encourage family dialogue about tender topics.

Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman, A Bantam Book, New York, 1995. A great exposition on the nature of emotions, their purpose, and how lacking education about them impacts our lives. Also see Mind Body Medicine. Daniel Goleman, ed.

Full Catastrophe Living. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Delacorte Press, New York, 1990. A book describing the program at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. It includes meditative exercises and studies showing it’s positive effects. There’s plenty of practical information about the kinds and effects of stress on health and what we can do to improve our lives. In Wherever You Go, There You Are. Kabat-Zinn presents meditation, how to learn it, what it does, and the harmony, wisdom, and inner peace it brings to the practitioner.

Getting In Touch. Edited by Christine Caldwell Ph.D., Quest Books, Wheaton, IL, 1997 A collection of essays by a wide variety of exceptional practitioners, all of whom have done ground breaking work in somatic psychology. Includes Ron Kurtz, Arnie Mindell, Ilana Rubenfeld, and others..

The Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Handbook. by David S. Sobel, M.D., and Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., Drx, Los Altos, CA, 1996. A practical guide with specific exercises for using the mind to stay well, relieve stress, deal with anger, boost immunity, improve mood, and more. Includes an extensive mind-body bibliography categorized by sub-topics such as change, anxiety, pain.

Light Years Ahead. Edited by Lee Hartley, Ed.D, Brian J. Breiling, Psy.D., and Bethany ArgIsle, Light Years Ahead Productions, 1996. A collection of the presenters at the first conference on full spectrum and colored light in mind-body healing. It’s a great overview and list of resources on the topic of healing with light and color.

Optimal Wellness. Ralph Golan, M.D., Ballantine Books, 1995. This juicy guide can improve your health and understanding of how and why participating in your own health care works. Organized by common denominators of illness, illnesses, and therapeutic approaches.

The Pleasure Prescription. Paul Pearsall, Ph.D., Hunter House Publishers, Alameda, CA, 1996. A engaging interpretation by a Hawaiian native of the Polynesian world view, contrasted with those of the West and the Far East.

Seven Experiments that Could Change the World: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science. Rupert Sheldrake, Riverhead Books, New York, 1995. Experiments on questions that are traditionally ignored by science but which are related to phenomena that everyone observes. Fun and thought-provoking.

The Way of the Shaman. Michael Harner, Ph.D., Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1990 (3rd ed.). This is the classic introduction, overview, and resource book on the topic. No academic treatise, Harner is both anthropologist and practitioner.

Vibrational Medicine. Richard Gerber, M.D., Bear and Company, Santa Fe, NM, Third Edition, 2001. This book explores theories of how energy healing works in human functioning and the landmark discoveries in physics which are moving the science of healing away from a completely materialistic view of the universe.

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