Bernie S. Siegel Explained

Bernie Siegel
Birth Date:14 October 1932
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York
Nationality:American
Education:Colgate University, Cornell University
Employer:Yale University
Occupation:Surgeon, author, New Age speaker
Spouse:Bobbie
Parents:Simon B. Siegel and Rose Siegel

Bernie Siegel (born October 14, 1932) is an American writer and retired pediatric surgeon, who writes on the relationship between the patient and the healing process. He is known for his best-selling book Love, Medicine and Miracles.

Early life and education

Siegel was born on October 14, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York.[1] He received a B.A. from Colgate University and his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College,[2] graduating with Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honors.He was trained in surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital, West Haven Veteran's Hospital and the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Career

Physician

Siegel practiced general medicine and pediatric surgery until 1989, when he retired from Yale as an Assistant Clinical Professor of General and Pediatric Surgery.[3]

Medical research and advocacy

Psychosocial support therapy

Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECP) is a non-profit organization founded by Siegel[2] in 1978. As described in a 1989 article in The New York Times, patients "with cancer and such other serious illnesses as AIDS and multiple sclerosis use group and individual psychotherapy, imagery exercises and dream work to try to unravel their emotional distress, which, Siegel says, strongly contributes to their physical maladies."[4] The ECP was created to provide resources, professional training programs and interdisciplinary retreats that help people facing the challenges of cancer and other chronic illnesses. In the fall of 1999, the Mind-Body Wellness Center (owned and operated by Meadville Medical Center and MMC Health Systems, Inc., a non-profit organization) acquired and assumed operations of the ECaP.[3] [5]

In 2008, Jerome Groopman, reviewing Anne Harrington's The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine, noted that a study by David Spiegel which (Harrington wrote) appeared to support Siegel's claims that breast cancer was partly caused by emotional turmoil, and that "dramatic remissions could occur if patients simply gave up their emotional repression, without chemotherapy or radiation."[6] However, Groopman noted that later trials failed to show any significant beneficial effects.

Siegel's theories concerning the purported benefits of psychosocial support therapy remain unproven. He has stated: "a vigorous immune system can overcome cancer if it is not interfered with, and emotional growth toward greater self-acceptance and fulfillment helps keep the immune system strong",[7] but Stephen Barret argues that Siegel has published no scientific study supporting these claims.[8]

Siegel is an Academic Director of the Experiential Health and Healing program at The Graduate Institute in Bethany, Connecticut.[9]

Literary reviews

Literary critic Anatole Broyard, writing in The New York Times, describes him as "a sort of Donald Trump of critical illness" and "not a gifted writer"; and while agreeing that Siegel is a surgeon, writes that he "might sometimes be mistaken for a pop psychiatrist." Broyard is critical of some of Siegel's practices, such as "imaging", where cancer patients imagine their good cells defeating their bad cells. Yet, Broyard concludes, Siegel does bring "an element of camaraderie" and offers patients hope, which is "a godsend to many people who are too sick to object to his style."[10]

Los Angeles Times reviewer Joan Borysenko described Siegel's first book, Love, Medicine and Miracles, as "incredibly inspiring and sure to be controversial". She commented, "Excellent research is reviewed side-by-side with uncontrolled, highly questionable studies." Describing Siegel as an "extremist" who "views cancer and nearly all diseases as psychosomatic", the review concluded that "his message distills down to one that the head may question, but in which the heart delights".[11] A second Los Angeles Times review of the same book said, "The book works best as a passionate exhortation to care for yourself, emotionally as well as physically. As a treatise on disease, it's trendy but ultimately oppressive."[12]

In 1988, Siegel's Love, Medicine and Miracles ranked #9 on The New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover nonfiction books.[13] The book remained on the Times bestseller list for more than a year.[14] [15] The paperback version was on The New York Times Best Seller list from 1988 to 1994.[16] It was also included in Sheldon Zerden's The Best of Health: The 100 Best Health Books.[17] His book Peace, Love and Healing hit The New York Times Best Seller list (paperback) in 1989.[18]

Mind Body Spirit magazine ranked him #25 on their 2012 list, "The Spiritual 100".[19]

Appearances in films and television

Siegel was a "key figure" in the 1988 television movie Leap of Faith, later rendered Question of Faith in VHS, written by Bruce Hart.[20]

1n 1992, Frank Perry's autobiographical film On the Bridge shows Perry, with prostate cancer, going to a weekend seminar led by Siegel.[21]

Bernie Siegel appears in the 2012 film "The Cure Is", alongside Bruce H. Lipton, Joel Fuhrman, Fabrizio Mancini, Marianne Williamson, Gregg Braden, Sue Morter, Paul Chek.

Personal life

Siegel lived with his wife Bobbie in Connecticut until she died in her sleep in 2018. They have five adult children.[22] He has said that he reads the Bible often and uses it for inspiration.[23]

Works

Books

Recordings

Films

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Scott . Willard . Willard Scott . The Older the Fiddle, the Better the Tune: The Joys of Reaching a Certain Age . . 2004 . 115 . 978-0-7868-9039-2. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  2. Book: Kahn . Ada P. . Fawcett . Jan . The Encyclopedia of Mental Health . 3rd . Bernie Siegel . Facts on File Library of Health and Living . Infobase Publishing . 2008 . 978-0-8160-6454-0 . 411.
  3. Siegel B . 2008 . Helping people live between office visits: An interview with Bernie Siegel, MD. Interview by Sheldon Lewis . Adv Mind Body Med. . 23 . 1. 24–7 . 20664138 .
  4. News: Sharon . Bass . Connecticut Q&A: Bernie S. Siegel; 'If You Enjoy Living, You Live Longer' . August 6, 1989 . . 2012-03-17.
  5. Web site: About Us: Background . ecap-online.org . Meadville Medical Center . March 17, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314015925/http://www.ecap-online.org/background . March 14, 2012 .
  6. Web site: New York Times Sunday Book Review . New York Times . Faith and Healing . January 27, 2008 . March 16, 2012 . Groopman, Jerome . Page 2 (of 2 web pages in review).
  7. Siegel, Bernie S. (1986). Love, Medicine & Miracles, HarperCollins Publishers, . p.77.
  8. Web site: Questionable Cancer Therapies. Stephen Barrett, M.D.. 17 December 2018 . QuackWatch.
  9. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-04-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120215072938/http://www.learn.edu/faculty/ . 2012-02-15 . The Graduate Institute: Faculty and Administrative Staff
  10. Web site: New York Times Books . New York Times . Good Books Ab[o]ut Being Sick . April 1, 1990 . March 16, 2012 . Broyard, Anatole . Page 2, 3 of 5 web pages.
  11. News: Joan . Borysenko . Love, Medicine and Miracles by Bernie S. Siegel . May 18, 1986 . . 2012-03-17.
  12. News: Mike . Oppenheim . Nonfiction: Love, Medicine & Miracles by Bernie S. Siegel MD . August 31, 1986 . . 2012-03-17.
  13. Web site: New York Times Top-Selling Books of 1988 . New York Times . Books . February 2, 1989 . March 16, 2012 . McDowell, Edwin.
  14. Web site: New York Times Books . New York Times . Book Notes . July 29, 1989 . March 16, 2012 . McDowell, Edwin.
  15. News: Nancy . Matsumoto . The Burgeoning Art of Healing With the Head : Mind/body books are big business. And it's not just New Agers who are lapping them up. Aging boomers are also opening up to the notion that attitude can cure. . September 5, 1994 . . 2012-03-17 . Former Yale Medical School surgeon Bernie Siegel's 1986 book, "Love, Medicine & Miracles," reappeared on the list this spring after spending more than 52 weeks on the bestseller list in the late 1980s and selling more than a million copies..
  16. News: Paperback Best Sellers, May 7, 1989 . . May 7, 1989 . March 17, 2012.
  17. Book: Zerden, Sheldon . The Best of Health: The 100 Best Health Books . Warren H. Green, Inc . 2004 . 401–405 . 0-87527-537-0.
  18. News: Best Sellers, June 18, 1989 . . June 18, 1989 . March 17, 2012.
  19. The Spiritual 100 . The Watkins Review: Mind Body Spirit . 29 . February 2012.
  20. News: John J. . O'Connor . John J. O'Connor (journalist) . Review/Television; Will Power vs. Disease . October 6, 1988 . . 2012-03-17.
  21. Web site: New York Times Movie Review: On the Bridge . New York Times . Reviews/Film . October 8, 1993 . March 16, 2012 . Maslin, Janet.
  22. Web site: Dr. Bernie Siegel's Prescription for Cancer Victims (and a Best-Seller): 'Patient, Heal Thyself' . PEOPLE.com . 1987-09-21 . 2018-02-03.
  23. Web site: Holeman . Daniel B. . An Interview with Bernie Siegel . Randy Peyser, Expert Book Editor, Writer, Home Page . 2018-02-03.

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