Clinical Behavioral Medicine: Some Concepts and Procedures by I. E. Wickramasekera Hardcover

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This book is an effort to integrate some clinical observations, theoretical concepts, and promising clinical procedures that relate psychological variables to physiological variables. My primary emphasis is on what psychological and behavioral concepts and procedures are most likely to enable us to influence physiological functions. The book covers questions that have fascinated me and with which I have struggled in daily clinical practice. What types of people are most at risk for physical disorders or dysfunctions? Why do some people present psychosocial conflicts somatically and others behaviorally? What is the placebo effect and how does it work? How do you arrange the conditions to alter maladaptive belief systems that contribute to psychopathology and patho physiology? Do beliefs have biological consequences? When I was in private clinical practice, and even today in my medical school clinical practice situation, I set aside one day each week to puzzle over the theoretical questions that my clinical experience generates. Often isolating these underlying theoretical questions provides guidance into the most relevant empirical literature. I have found that this weekly ritual, which I started in private practice many years ago, appears to increase my clinical efficacy or at least makes clinical work more exciting. I find the unexamined clinical practice hard to endure. Kurt Lewin once said, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory."

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Pioneering Health CARE Reform..., November 03, 2009
By ExLibris Goddess

Mind-body medicine is a viable answer to many of a our health-care "crisis" and economic health questions if we are truly interested in Healing.

This is a must-read for practitioners and others interested in how we might (re)solve a multitude of ills with this pioneering hands-on technique, underlying research, principles, and inspiration on the personal level, and when extrapolated to a larger landscape, addressing the national and global financial balance and health issues becuase these methods are inherently preventative and less expensive.

This book addresses the deep roots of this shift in consciousness and perspective, offers practical suggestions for expression, and depending on how the knowledge is expressed, raising the bar to a more graceful healing and uplifting of humanity.

You can read this as a manual for foundational practice and research or allow it to percolate and become a doorway to a new way of doing things that could benefit us all in so many ways.

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Medical Humanitites Course, April 21, 2000
By Rev. Robert H. Clark (Drew University, Madison, NJ)

This is one of the most succinct books on the subject of Mindy-Body. Ian captures many of the structures for the ongoing discoveries in the emerging science of psychoneuroimmunology. My students have found his presentation clear and well documented. I hope he will do an update.

3 of 6 people found the above review helpful.

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Book for 21st Century, September 23, 1999
By A customer

This is the best book I've come across in the field of Behavioral Medicine. It's way ahead of time. Dr. Wickramasekara expresses his clinical and research experience very boldly without any fear of medical establishments which seem to profess "pills" and "surgery" for pure economic reasons. He logically establishes the superiority of "skills" over "pills". It's a fascinating scientific book on mind-body medicine. I think people should be open-minded to read this book. It's a book that would lead us to the 21st century and help us to evolve. A must read for any Psychologist or any layman interested in self-examination of life.

7 of 8 people found the above review helpful.

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