Mind, Fantasy & Heal

When Epstein, a wife, mother and graduate student in sociology at the University of Massachusetts, learned in 1985 that she was ill with kidney cancer, she was advised by her doctor to expect only a few more months of life. But after embarking on an intensive program of ``psychosynthesis''--a psychological approach to self-healing involving therapy, meditation, ``visualization'' and dream analysis--she found that her tumors decreased, and she has remained cancer-free for the last three years. Here she documents a process of self-discovery and spiritual growth (``The mind that heals also has the power to destroy'') in response to the tragic initial prognosis. To dispute her assertions is difficult, for Epstein's story is amazing, often moving. But it is so intensely personal that a reader must question the author's confidence in recommending her recovery techniques as standard practice in treating cancer patients. (June)