Ernest R. Hilgard

The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing: New Concepts of Therapeutic Hypnosis.

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1987, Vol 32(12), 1042. Reviews the book, The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing: New Concepts of Therapeutic Hypnosis by Ernest Lawrence Rossi (1986). The author has made a serious effort to assemble hard evidence for optimistic theorizing about mental healing along the lines defended by M. Erickson, with whom he collaborated, whose papers he edited, and whose disciple he is recognized to be. The topics treated go well beyond the realm of hypnosis. The major thesis that the mind can have substantial healing power is congenial to Cousins, who wrote the foreword, because it supports his own reports of his personal self-healing experiences, not requiring the emphasis on hypnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)