cover image Moving Beyond Depression: A Whole-Person Approach to Healing

Moving Beyond Depression: A Whole-Person Approach to Healing

Gregory L. Jantz. Shaw Books, $13.99 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-87788-033-2

""There is no one answer for depression and no single path to recovery,"" writes Jantz, a psychologist. Because depression can arise from a myriad of factors--physical, relational, financial, environmental, hormonal or spiritual--it doesn't make sense to treat it with a one-size-fits-all system, he insists. Jantz weighs the pros and cons of counseling and medication, and is sharply critical of the recent trend to dispense with counseling in favor of""a pharmaceutical solution."" He advocates a whole-person approach to overcoming depression, a program that is tailored to the patient's individual needs and circumstances. While medication is one avenue, it should be used cautiously. (This is a theme throughout the book; Jantz spends a section outlining how numerous medications for physical illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes can foster depression as an unintended side effect.) The book includes a twelve-week""personal recovery plan"" with practical suggestions and notes on keeping a journal.