Managing Depression with Qigong

Many people will suffer from depression at some time in their lives. New research shows that Qigong, a traditional Chinese practice, can be an effective treatment for depression and can provide a good alternative or supplement to medication in some cases. Frances Gaik explains the basics of what Qigong is and why it is effective for depression, and shows the reader how to make use of Qigong to rise from the darkness of depression and regain strength and motivation in life. Based on the same principles as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong works by promoting the movement of health-giving energy along the meridians of the body. The author shows how the practical application of Qigong can radically improve health and wellbeing, and provides a treatment plan, including Qigong exercises. Encouraging the reader to identify their problems and take action, Dr. Frances Gaik gives practical advice that will help anyone with depression to improve their mental health. Managing Depression with Qigong provides a guide to an effective and increasingly recognised form of treatment that will be invaluable to people with depression and their families.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Chapter 1. A Paradigm Shift Toward Holistic Interventions. Chapter 2. The Information System of Your Body. Chapter 3. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Qigong. 4. Identifying Your Problem. Chapter 5. Practical Applications of Qigong to Depression - The Action Plan. Chapter 6. Taking Personal Responsibility For Your Health. Chapter 7. The Clinical Research Study. Appendix. Part One: Active Exercises. Part Two: Supplementary Exercises. Part Three: Sitting Meditations. References. Acknowledgments. Index.

About the Author :
Frances Gaik PsyD is a licensed clinical professional counselor in private practice in the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. She holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology, and an undergraduate degree in Philosophy with a concentration on ethics. Dr. Gaik is Board Certified in Professional Counseling and is a long-term meditator and Qigong practitioner who utilizes alternative energy therapies as well as hypnosis in her therapeutic approach. She has also worked in the health insurance industry for over 25 years.

Review :
Gaik ably describes western and Chinese notions of depression and the treatmentof stress and includes a chapter summarizing the research project on qiagong's effects on depression that formed her dissertation. An appendix contains qiagong exercises, including two sitting meditations, as well as a full bibliography. In Managing Depression with Qigong, author Frances Galk introduces this Eastern healing art as an effective method of helping relieve depression. Galk is a professional counselor with a doctorate in clinical psychology as well as years of expience working in the health insurance industry. Galk uses energy therapies and hypnosis along with traditional psychotherapy in her clinical practice and seeks to integrate the concepts behind Qigong with the concepts that are used in Western psychology. With growing evidence for benefits of mind-body and energetic therapies in treating psychiatric conditions, it is great to see this information shared in books for the public. In a lucid, dispassionate, folksy way, Dr. Gaik tells an important story. She describes the research efforts both of herself and earlier and contemporary pioneers in America, China and Japan first to rethink Western medicine in Eastern thought forms and then assimilate it. Her aim: to make you and me healthier through an affordable combination of deep breathing, meditation, counseling and moderate exercise, with an exit stratedy from a limited time given over to non-addictive therapy...Her book is an easy, informative, delightful read.