Healing yourself after injury, illness, or surgery

A book outlines what you can do to heal as well as possible.

During the year or two after surgery or treatment for a serious medical problem, many people find they need help to feel better emotionally and physically but don't know where to turn. In You Can Heal Yourself (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2012), Dr. Julie Silver, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and chief editor of books at Harvard Health Publishing (which publishes Harvard Women's Health Watch), details practical steps you can take for optimal healing. Her recommendations are based on research and, says Dr. Silver, "years of listening to my patients tell me what helps them and what doesn't." We talked to her about some of the ideas behind You Can Heal Yourself.