The Placebo Response and the Power of Unconscious Healing

by Kradin, Richard L.

• ISBN13: 9780415956185
• ISBN10: 0415956188
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Placebo responses are automatic and unconscious and cannot be predicted based on conscious volition. Instead, they reflect complex interactions between the innate reward system of the nervous system and encoded procedural memories and imaginal fantasies. The placebo response contributes inextricably to virtually all therapeutic effects, varies in potency, and likely exhibits its own pathologies. The Placebo Response further considers that the critical elements required to provoke placebo responses overlap substantially with what most current psychotherapies consider to be therapeutic, i.e. an interpersonal dynamic rooted in concern, trust and empathy. The potential importance of training caregivers in how to optimize placebo responses is considered a crucial feature of both the art and science of care-giving.

Author Biography

Nicholas A. Cummings, PhD, ScD, distinguished professor and former president of the American Psychological Association

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
The Placebo Response	p. 1
The Basis of the Placebo Response in Sickness and Healing	p. 11
A Brief History of Medicine and the Changing Implications of Placebos	p. 29
Placebo Effects-Who Gets Them?	p. 83
What Do We Know about How Placebos Act?	p. 101
The Anomalous Placebo Response	p. 169
Placebo and the Truth	p. 199
The Challenge of Harnessing the Placebo Response	p. 211
Bibliography	p. 249
Index	p. 265
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