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Complementary Therapies in Rehabilitation: Evidence for Efficacy in Therapy, Prevention, and Wellness, ed 2 Davis CM, ed. Thorofare, NJ 08086, Slack Inc, 2004, hardcover, 412 pp, illus, ISBN: 1-55642-581-3, $42.95.
The editor of Complementary Therapies in Rehabilitation, Carol Davis, has brought together a team of authors and has given them a difficult assignment: to make physical therapists aware of the main features of various "alternative" therapeutic regimens and to encourage scientific examination of the efficacy and rationale for these interventions. Although the book does not have a specific statement of purpose, one aim seems to be to encourage practitioners to reconsider some techniques labeled as "alternative" and, by applying rigorous analysis, make them "complementary" to traditional physical therapy care. The therapies included in this volume range from therapeutic massage, myofascial release, and craniosacral therapy to Qi Gong, distance healing, and low-energy lasers.
The book discusses a total of 18 therapeutic approaches that are organized into 4 sections. The first section explains the editor's view of "holistic health care." In her introduction titled "Energy Techniques as the Way of Returning Healing to...