Getting Well Again: The Bestselling Classic About the Simontons' Revolutionary Lifesaving Self- Awareness Techniques

"This is a wonderful book detailing Dr. Simonton's experiences with the mind-body connection and healing. It chronicles many patients' successful efforts to utilize their own imagination to heal disease. The writing style makes for easy reading.

This book supports the idea that we create or destroy our own health thru our attitudes & beliefs. The book includes specifics for creating healing meditations you can tailor to your needs. A refreshing addition to my "alternative healing" library. I begin & end each day with a few minutes of self-guided imagery."
~ Written on 2007-12-23

"I am not a cancer survivor, but rather a physician interested in the mind-body connection. I have done a lot of reading in this field and am definitely a proponent of the now fairly well-established theory that the mind and body are indivisibly linked. This is good news for everyone, and means that literally all patients, with proper guidance, can be taught how to rally their mental resources to optimize their chance of recovery. This book does a good job of showing how, though (perhaps necessarily) spends nearly equal time defending it's claims with stories of healing that support its concepts.

I have one issue with this book, and it's a big one. While I wholeheartedly believe in the mind-body link, I do not believe in - nor do I support others in their belief of - a "cancer personality." In fact, the very term is loaded, in that it ascribes blame (or at least cause and effect) for one's illness squarely on the patient.

I suppose this is not surprising - there is still much that is not known about cancer - and as an "evolved" race, modern-day man is very resistant to the idea that there are still things over which we have very little control. Though well-intentioned, it is, nonetheless, a dangerous belief. Certainly I have seen patients who seem to fit Simonton's "cancer personality" - and I have seen just as many cancer patients who do not. And the unsettling fact remains that many, many people sporting Simonton's "cancer personality" to a tee will never develop cancer at all.

Ironically, the issue I have with this book is likely also at the heart of the book's popularity - human beings are unfailingly optimistic, and control-driven - we want desperately to believe we can control everything because to admit that we don't has terrifying implications - particularly for those currently facing the uncertainty of serious illness.

But our addiction to control has it's own problems - not least of which is that it flies in the face of acceptance, which is an essential step in coming to grips with major life change. Acceptance of illness does not mean accepting the inevitability of death from disease, but it does mean releasing ourselves from blame and guilt. We are all doing the best we can, all imperfect, all flawed. If disease were really caused by personality faults - even the specific ones described - we would all be doomed.

Boring and depressing though it may be to hear, cancer is probably "caused" more by genetics and environment than we want to believe. Ironically, the single biggest contributing factor to many cancers likely remains our own choices - lifestyle choices such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, unsafe sex, a poor diet and lack of sleep and exercise that we know with certainty place stress on our bodies and predispose us to all kinds of disease. Our mental attitude definitely is a part of that, and I do believe that stress can impair the healing process - and perhaps even in some cases, cause illness. But I don't believe it is at the heart of why most people get ill.

This is a valuable book which does guide patients in taking responsibility for their healing. My issue is that I think it unfairly ascribes responsibility (and blame) to the patient for becoming ill in the first place.

However, because I think this book remains a real resource to cancer patients, I do not want to give it less than three stars - I am not a cancer patient, and I would not want to be responsible for someone with cancer skipping over what for them, may be a potentially helpful resource. Illness, and especially uncertainty, are dark companions, and people need to follow their hearts as well as their minds in finding their way through difficult times. Take the good this book has to offer - but leave behind the blame. It has no place in your journey back to health."
~ Written on 2007-07-05

"I give away many of my books after reading them myself, and often buy books as special occasion gifts for others. However, this book is the only one that I have bought repeatedly over the years to give away. It is a fast and interesting read that provides, in a very understandable and concise way, how to use specific mental exercises to combat the multiplication of cancer cells. Favorable results have been documented for many years. "
~ Written on 2007-05-24

"This book is essential. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in late 2003 and was given this book as a gift from a survivor I'd never met and still haven't to date. Because of her thoughtfulness, I was able to better understand, work with my treatment and get well again. I have given my copy away, that copy passed on by the person I gave it to again and I trust again since that time. Another friend of a friend was diagnosed in Florida (I'm in Michigan, my benefactor in California) and this was the first thing I did (after saying a prayer for her). Best Wishes for a speedy and full recovery to any/all who have need for this book. "
~ Written on 2006-08-24

"Book is very informative and offers hope and help. It is far too old and needs to be updated to more current situations but many of the facts remain true and it is still probably the best cancer help book out there."
~ Written on 2005-10-01