Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal, 10th Anniversary Edition Paperback – August 1, 2006

Through the authors personal stories you start to reflect on your own life and the lessons your memories have taught you.

With over 2k reviews, Do we really need 1 more? YES!! --WHY ??B/C if you are what you eat, then, you are also what you allow your head to feed on.In a world filled with so much negitivism, & lack of genuine compassion for others, this is a must read. A time to slow down and really think about all the lies we tell our selves. A time to learn how to discern what is REALLY going on and what you "think" about yourself and others.A long time ago, in a world far, far away we use to take the time to just sit and listen. Now we just text, "connect" on social media, and get many of our " facts" from Google. IF your world is moving too fast, OR you are just a bit too stressed out. Or are anxious about the things you think you have no controll over; It's well past the time to slow down and connect, and feed your brain some real " super food" in the form of wisdom.I have leared much about myself, and others, after reading this book & nowjust stopping to rethink. So will you IF are willing. You may not have the time..... BUT if you TAKE the time you too can be wiser for it. I have loaned my book out to someone, who then bought their own copy after reading mine. Then loaned this out to one of her friends.Who did exactly the same thing. This book has sold so many copies, not b/c of advertising. BUT b/c of word of mouth.●●FYI : I NEVER take ANY kind of kick back or promotion for ANY of my reviews. Nor am I a " vine" purchaser or reciever. My opinions are not for sale.

If I was sitting across the table and complaining to Rachel Remen about something going on in my life, I am certain she would give me a pearl of wisdom wrapped in a story. Not only am I wiser for the reading of Kitchen Table Wisdom, I am more human.This book contains approximately eighty extremely short stories from Remen’s counseling practice, primarily with cancer patients. Many passages left me with tears in my eyes. And though the stories were about her patients and coworkers aha moments, it was I who was illuminated. I cried over my negative attitudes and my courage.Remen exposed me to myself by telling stories of her own experiences as a physician, and then as a counselor. She went to medical school at a time when there were not many women doctors. In order to be successful, she covered over her own tenderness with clinical expertise. Through turns of circumstances interspersed in the book, she uncovered much of the softness that her Jewish grandfather had instilled in her.Her transparency about her own journey is refreshing, which in turn suggests to the reader that they, too, may have something to discover about their own life.I was particularly moved by a story of a male patient in the final stages of cancer. What he loved more than anything about seeing his oncologist, he told Remen, were the conversations they would have at the end of his appointments. This doctor was the only person in his life who he felt completely understood what he was going through. Eventually his doctor said there was nothing more he could do; though additional chemotherapy might prolong his life. He did not want more chemotherapy, so the doctor released him from his care. He was devastated; yet he resumed treatments just to have those short conversations! The story continues. Remen is also the counselor of the man’s oncologist. This doctor came to Remen because he felt his life did not matter. He believed if he died no one would miss him!In three pages, I have been given a beautiful story. Inside the story I see more clearly the value of listening to others with an open heart. And though Remen cannot tell the oncologist of the great impact he was making on one man’s life, she does tell me that even if I cannot see it, my life is significant to someone.Kitchen Table Wisdom is a must read for everyone who desires to expand their humanness.Thank you, Dr. Remen, for many hours of personal counseling.

I was drawn to this book after listening to an interview with Dr. Remen from the "Speaking of Faith" series on National Public Radio. I could tell from the interview that I was listening to a wise and compassionate person who was speaking from a deep well of experience about the real needs of patients, families, and those involved in health care delivery.Remen is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and a chronic sufferer from Crohn's disease, an often debilitating illness. This volume is a collection of brief stories from her own experiences as well as the lives of hundreds of patients she has counseled. Remen has been something of a medical reformer and pioneer as she turned toward the emotional and spiritual needs of cancer patients she was counseling.Typical of the moving stories in this book is the selection about a man with cancer named Dieter. Convinced that his chemo was no longer working, Dieter told his doctor he wanted to stop the treatments but to continue his appointments just to talk. His doctor pushed him away, saying that if he discontinued treatments, there was nothing more he could do for him. Dieter told his cancer support group, "My doctor's love is as important to me as his chemotherapy, but he does not know." Ironically, Remen discloses in this story that Deiter's doctor was one of her counseling clients, although neither Deiter nor his doctor knew that, and she could not disclose it. The doctor was depressed and isolated, complaining that he was just another white coat and that no one cared for him. Sadly, neither doctor nor patient could receive healing from each other.Remen's mission has been to base health care relationships on the whole person. This requires new forms of medical education which she has developed. Remem herself has said that she had to "unlearn" much of her own medical training--with its emphasis on detached clinical professionalism--in order to be someone who not just cures but heals. This collection of stories reveals much of the fruit of this struggle. All of us will benefit from knowing that true healing occurs when who we really are shows up.

Good book with a lot of things and situations and insights.