Getting Well Again : A Step-by-step, Self-help Guide to Overcoming Cancer for Patients and Their Families PDF
Preview Getting Well Again : A Step-by-step, Self-help Guide to Overcoming Cancer for Patients and Their Families
GETTING WELL AGAIN The bestseller about the Simontons revolutionary hfe-saving self-awareness techniques. ee OE Ee O. Carl Simonton, M.D. Stephanie Matthews-Simonton James L. Creighton — wee = = eG O. Carl Simonton, M.D., D.A.B.R., is a radiation oncologist and medical director of the Cancer Counseling and Research Center in Dallas, Texas. Stephanie Matthews-Simonton is a psychotherapist and director of the Center’s intensive psychotherapy program. James L. Creighton has worked with the Simontons and independently in cancer patient counseling and care. THE TOTAL APPROACH THAT’S REVOLUTIONIZING CANCER TREATMENT The Simontons are recognized worldwide as leaders in the holistic health movement. Their total approach to fighting cancer combines traditional medical management with psycho- logical treatment—to create the most favorable environment, both internal and external, for recovery. And the results have been remarkable: the Simontons’ patients have a survival rate twice the national norm and, in many cases, have experienced dramatic remissions or total cures. Carl and Stephanie Simonton have worked with major hospitals and medical schools across the United States, helping them to establish cancer counseling programs like their own in Texas. Today they are considered the foremost practitioners in the field of psychological causes and treatment of cancer. **A HUSBAND AND WIFE MEDICAL TEAM IS HELPING CANCER PATIENTS DIAGNOSED AS INCURABLY ILL THINK THEIR WAY TO SURVIVAL.”’ —Associated Press GETTING WELL AGAIN *‘Compared to U.S. national averages, the Simontons’ ‘terminally ill’ patients have lived longer—in some cases experiencing dramatic remissions—and functioned more fully than typical cancer patients . . . In the burgeoning field of holistic health practice, [the Simontons] are bold and level- headed pioneers.”’ —Association of Humanistic Psychology Newsletter *““WE CAN ADD OUR OWN HEALING POWERS TO NORMAL MEDICAL TREATMENT AND INCREASE OUR CHANCES OF LONG-TERM, HIGH-QUALITY SURVIVAL . . . Underlying all the Simontons’ work is the philosophy that we are all responsible for our own health and illnesses, and that we participate—whether consciously or uncon- sciously—in creating our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.”’ —New Age *‘Carl and Stephanie Simonton are pioneering in the domain of mind-body communication and are getting remarkable results in cancer control.’’ —Dr. Elmer Green, Menninger Foundation “‘(The Simontons] have caught the very essence of the stress concept, especially as it concerns the goal of overcoming cancer.”’ —Hans Selye, M.D., President International Institute of Stress GETTING WELLE AGAIN A Step-by-Step, Self-Help Guide to Overcoming Cancer for Patients and Their Families O. Carl Simonton, M.D. Stephanie Matthews-Simonton James L. Creighton a BANTAM BOOKS TORONTO * NEW YORK * LONDON * SYDNEY * AUCKLAND This book is dedicated to the patients who have been willing to try and alter the course of their cancers through the mental and emotional processes and to the courage it takes to adopt that stance. —CARL and STEPHANIE SIMONTON I dedicate this book to my wife, Maggie Creighton, who first led me down these paths and supported me along the way. —JAMES CREIGHTON GETTING WELL AGAIN A BANTAM BOOK 0 553 17272 7 First publication in Great Britain PRINTING HISTORY Bantam edition published 1986 Bantam edition reprinted 1988 Bantam edition reprinted 1990 Bantam edition reprinted 1991 Bantam edition reprinted 1993 Fictional names have been used for all the patients mentioned in this book except for Bob Gilley. Copyright © 1978 by O. Carl Simonton and Stephanie Matthews-Simonton Bantam Books are published by Transworld Publishers Ltd., 61-63. Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London W5 5SA, in Australia by Transworld Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd., 15-25 Helles Avenue, Moorebank, NSW 2170, and in New Zealand by Transworld Publishers (N.Z.) Ltd., 3 William Pickering Drive, Albany, Auckland. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd., Reading, Berks. Contents Acknowledgments ix PART ONE The Mind and Cancer 1 The Mind-Body Connection: A Psychological Approach to Cancer Treatment 3 The Starting Point: The ‘‘Will to Live’ 4 The First Patient: A Dramatic Example 6 A Whole-Person Approach to Cancer Treatment 10 The Results of This Approach 11 Theory into Practice 13 2 The Mysteries of Healing: The Individual and His Beliefs 15 The Importance of the Individual 16 A Mysterious Recovery 18 ‘‘Spontaneous’’ Remission and the Placebo Effect 22 Psychosomatic Health 217 Biofeedback and the Ability to Influence Health 29 A System Concept of Health 31 3 The Search for the Causes of Cancer 33 What Is Cancer? 33 What Causes Cancer? 34 The Immune System: Our Natural Defense Against Illness 40 4 The Link Between Stress and Illness 46 Measuring Stress and Predicting Illness 46 How Stress Increases Susceptibility to Illness 51 A Summary of the Findings: We Return Again to the Individual 54 5 Personality, Stress, and Cancer 56 A Historical Look at the Connection Between Cancer and Emotions 57 The Psychological Evidence 62 Examples from Our Patients’ Lives 67 The Psychological Process of Illness 72 Getting Well Again 76 6 Expectations about Cancer and Their Effects on Recovery 79 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 80 Negative Social Beliefs about Cancer—and Their Effects 83 Building a Positive System of Beliefs 85 7 A Whole-Person Model of Cancer Recovery 91 A Mind/Body Model of Cancer Development 91 — Reversing the Cycle: A Mind/Body Model of Recovery 95 PART TWO Pathways to Health 8 The Program: Putting It To Work 103 An Overview of Pathways to Health 104 Putting the Program to Work 109 9 Participating in Your Health 114 John Browning: A Case History 116 Bob Gilley: A Case History 119 How You Interpret the Meaning of Events 120 Identifying Your Participation in Illness 121 Accepting the Responsibility for Your Health 124 10 The ‘‘Benefits’’ of Iliness 127 Solving Problems Through Illness 128 The Legitimacy of Emotional Needs 131 Identifying the ‘‘Benefits’’ of Illness“ 132 11 Learning to Relax and Visualize Recovery 136 The Relaxation Technique 138 Relaxation and Mental Imagery 140 The Mental Imagery Process 142 Mental Imagery for Other Illnesses 146 The Value of Relaxation and Mental Imagery 148 Overcoming Potential Problems with the Mental Imagery Process 149 12 The Value of Positive Mental Images 151 The Criteria for Effective Imagery 154 Overcoming Problems in Your Mental Imagery 157 Drawings and Interpretations of our Patients’ Mental Imagery 160 Imagery as a Description of Self 173 13 Overcoming Resentment 175 Techniques for Forgiving old Hurts—Our Own Experience 177 Mental Imagery for Overcoming Resentment 178 Our Patients’ Experiences with the Resentment Imagery Process 179 Gaining Insight into Your Resentment 182 14 Creating the Future: Setting Goals 185 The Benefits of Setting Goals 180 Determining Your Goals: General Guidelines 188 Some Specific Suggestions for Goal Setting 190 Setting Your Goals and Developing Specific Action Steps to Meet Them 192 Reinforcing Your Goals Through Mental Imagery 193 15 Finding Your Inner Guide to Health 197 Tapping Your Inner Resources: Examples from Our Patients’ Lives 199 Journal Entries 204 Another Approach to the Inner Guide 206 The Inner Guide Mental Imagery Process 207 16 Managing Pain 210 The Emotional Components of Pain 211 The ‘‘Rewards’’ of Pain: Learning Not to Use Pain as a Justification 212 Approaches to Managing Pain 213 Mental Imagery for Coping with Pain 215 Substituting Pleasure for Pain 218 17 Exercise 220 Our Exercise Prescription: One Hour, Three Times Weekly 223 18 Coping with Fears of Recurrence and Death 228 Recurrence: The Body’s Feedback 229 Death: A Redecision 231 Our Patients’ Experiences 234 Gaining a Perspective on Life and Death 237 Implications of the Death-and-Rebirth Fantasy 240 19 The Family Support System 241 Accepting the Patient’s Feelings—and Your Own 242 Establishing Open, Effective, Supportive Communication 243 Supporting the Patient's Responsibility and Participation 250 Rewarding Health, No Illness 255 Meeting the Demands of Long-Term Illness 258 Learning and Growing 260 Bibliography 261 Index 281
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