THE LISTENING CURE

From Gilbert (Dr. Chris's A, B, C's of Health, 2010, etc.), an exhaustive guide to giving voice to the body for better health.

Suppressed emotions may be the root causes of common maladies like headaches, skin rashes, abdominal pain, joint pain, obesity, fatigue, and sexual disorders. By vocalizing and listening to these emotions, Gilbert believes patients can heal themselves. “Lasting cures, versus temporary symptomatic relief, come about only when the root cause of disease is addressed, and the root cause of disease is usually emotional,” she states. [11, italics original] Readers meet patients like Cynthia, whose sore throat seems to be a symptom of an unhappy marriage. “Part of her wanted to scream, and yet another part of her that wanted to save her marriage had restrained her voice and kept her from lashing out at her husband. This constant, unconscious tension inside her larynx stressed her throat, generating great pain,” Gilbert writes. [6] Her treatment involves using pillows as sounding boards – and as punching bags. Then there’s Peter, who feels trapped in his relationship. During an open seat Gestalt therapy session, four volunteers form a human wall around him, forcing him to confront this feeling and break free from it. Gilbert encourages patients to converse with their body parts, such as when she asks Amanda, an obese patient, to speak as her stomach “to uncover unconscious struggles that, once exposed, accepted, and even welcomed, allow patients to find their own long-term fixes,” Gilbert writes. [47] In cases of sexual dysfunction, Gilbert encourages couples to give voice to their genitals. When verbalization fails, Gilbert takes patients into nature, interprets their dreams, or asks them to draw. While her approach to health care is refreshingly unconventional, Gilbert may be overstating the mind-body connection at times. One patient’s back pain is attributed to anger when it could easily be due to his long commute and a desk job. (Indeed, Gilbert’s “prescription” is for stretching.) Sections like “Why French People Don’t Gain Weight” lean more on stereotypes and anecdotal experience than on science. Illustrations throughout are unnecessary and border on hokey, such as a banana and an oyster discussing sex.

A New Age text offering alternatives to traditional medicine for practitioners and patients alike.