Beyond Words

Health is not simply the absence of illness, but a complex and joyous expression of self—to the fullest extent.

Health is not simply the absence of illness, but a complex and joyous expression of self—to the fullest extent.

From his perspective of forty years in the medical profession, Dr. Paul Brenner redefines what health is: no more and no less than the acceptance and appreciation of life. As the author comes to realize that each individual has an innate wisdom of what's right for her or his body, he crystallizes the discontent with the medical profession and the idea that there is a better alternative to the definition of health.

This book is written from the perspective of a logic-driven realist who is reluctantly transformed by the wisdom of alternative therapies, by his acceptance of his own intuition, and by the lessons on health and illness he learns from his patients—patients, who, it turns out, were healing him. It is a tribute to patients everywhere who want their own wisdom and self-knowledge to be used by their practitioners in a partnership of life and health.