About the Book
Essential Practices for Lasting Freedom from Depression
The true source of healing from depression comes from within--not from doctors or medications. Yet when depression drains away our vitality and will, how can we find the energy to help ourselves? With
Freedom from Depression, Dr. James S. Gordon reveals a new and empowering approach for dealing with this misunderstood condition--a way out of the darkness that helps you restore balance and joy to your life.
Proven Techniques for Navigating Our Way to WholenessThrough both his personal experience and 40 years of research, Dr. Gordon knows just how serious depression can be. Dr. Gordon challenges the common medical model of depression as a strictly physical disease that is best treated with drugs--instead, he sees it as a wake-up call that our lives are out of balance. Drawing from treatments he and his colleagues have used successfully in places like Kosovo, Gaza, Haiti, and post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as experiences with patients in his US practice, he has created a set of simple and elegant tools for engaging more deeply with our lives instead of withdrawing. Here he offers practical training for using meditation, diet, guided imagery, movement, and more to help us deal directly with our own unique circumstances around depression.The path to freedom from depression is realistic, hopeful, well-traveled--and filled with unexpected rewards. As Dr. Gordon has seen time and again, we can emerge from the darkness with a deeper appreciation of life's richness and our purpose in the world. With
Freedom from Depression, he offers a bold new way to find true healing from this condition--to turn our fears into teachers, renew our body and mind, and reclaim our ability to take joy in life.HIGHLIGHTS
The science of depression--dispelling common myths about genes, drugs, and lifestyleAntidepressants--taking a hard look at the value and limitations of drug-based treatmentNeuroplasticity--why our ability to rewrite the brain's neural circuitry empowers us to overcome depressionSimple meditation practices for balancing the emotions, body, and spiritUsing self-hypnosis and guided imagery to relieve anxiety and find inner calmDiet, movement, and creativity--effective ways to bring a sense of delight back into your lifeThe seven stages of the journey to wholeness
About the Author:
James S. GordonJames S. Gordon, MD, a Harvard-educated psychiatrist, is a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, anxiety, and psychological trauma. He is the founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), a clinical professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at Georgetown Medical School, and recently served as chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.
Dr. Gordon has created groundbreaking programs of comprehensive mind-body healing for physicians, medical students, and other health professionals; for people with cancer, depression and other chronic illnesses and conditions; for traumatized children and families in Bosnia, Kosovo, Israel, and Gaza as well as in post-9/11 New York City and post-Katrina southern Louisiana; and with US military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Gordon and his colleagues have trained 3,000 health and mental health professionals in the US and overseas to more effectively address the psychological trauma within their communities, as well as to deal with chronic illness. He and his CMBM colleagues have also supervised and trained local leadership teams to make the CMBM model a fully integrated and sustainable part of the local healthcare system.
Dr. Gordon's most recent book is Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression (Penguin). He is also the author of Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary and Conventional Therapies (with Susan Curtin) and Manifesto for a New Medicine: Your Guide to Healing Partnerships and the Wise Use of Alternative Therapies. His work has appeared in leading professional journals including The American Journal of Psychiatry, The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, The American Family Physician, and The Journal of Traumatic Stress, as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic Monthly.
