Article June 9, 2003 Issue

To heal effectively find the mental cause

By Lamar S. Smith

BOOKS ABOUT FOOD AND EXERCISE tout The Healing Diet and Healing Moves. A magazine advertises vacations as "healing retreats." And a skin lotion promises "advanced healing."

A walk down the aisles of nearly any grocery store or bookstore shows how often the word healing is used. Clearly, marketers understand that healing has a tremendous appeal.

The yearning for relief from physical ailments or mental anxieties is natural. But where should we turn for healing? Products and services may promise healing, while actually delivering very little because they don't get at the actual causes of pain and anxiety.