Gruft’s revolutionary thesis is simple to grasp: acute pain is the result of injured tissues, which tend to heal themselves and become whole again. But chronic pain is different: it is actually the result of how we live our lives, and it will not heal permanently until we transform, rebuild and make our lives whole again. Just as a scratch will heal over quickly, while a deep chronic ulcer must heal from within, so we can manage our chronic pain by going within ourselves to contact deeper sources of healing.

But change can be difficult at first, so Gruft gives all the information, explanation, and inspiration needed to get us started. He then details a practical program we can follow for success in our quest to heal our pain. He covers the roles of exercise, rest, physical therapy, psychotherapy, medications, sleep modification and meditation in the design of a personalized, comprehensive pain management program.

Anecdotes and cases form his decades of clinical practice illustrate clearly how we can not only succeed in managing our chronic pain, but also begin to make our lives less stressful and chaotic, and more peaceful and purposeful. Put simply he shows how the curse of chronic pain can actually be a blessing in disguise if we use it as a springboard to know ourselves by diving into the pool of self-knowledge.

Dr. Gruft is uniquely positioned to have developed this radical new approach to healing pain. He is a nationally known and esteemed pain specialist, immersed in teaching, research and clinical arts, broadly familiar with both orthodox and alternative healing systems. During decades of practice, he has encountered the fullest possible variety and severity of cases in his crowded pain clinics. He has focused a formidable analytical intelligence on sifting through and reflecting deeply on what causes pain management to succeed—or fail.

Also, he brings to his project many years of experience as a practitioner of meditation and as a committed student of spirituality. Few—if any—pain specialists of Dr. Gruft’s caliber combine clinical expertise in pain management with such profound personal spiritual exploration.

Finally, in this book Dr. Gruft speaks to us crisply and clearly, yet always in a warmly human and comforting voice. He lives daily with the desperate suffering of people with chronic pain, and knows how to give wise solace with his words and hope with his advice. He is our medical friend. Dr. Gruft’s fine book will help many millions with of pain sufferers understand not only their pain, but  themselves. His advice is based on deep truths, and his book is destined to become a classic in its field.”

—Marshall Zaslove, M.D.
Author, The Successful Physician

"Pain is our body’s way—and often, our soul’s way—of getting our attention. In this wonderful  book, Dr. James Gruft shows how to reduce pain and suffering by addressing the underlying  physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual causes.”

—Dean Ornish, M.D.
The New York Times bestselling author

“From Pain to Wellness is a gift to the general public. Not only does Dr. Gruft address the medical dimensions of pain, but he expands the topic to include the mental, emotional and spiritual components as well. This book succeeds as a manual of the different forms of pain and an inspirational guidebook on how to take control of one’s pain and regard it as a tool for  transformation. With the potential to heal anyone who reads it, From Pain to Wellness is a contribution to life itself.”

—Kathryn Kruger, Ph.D.
Author, Weaving the Word

“Dr. Gruft helps to unravel the complicated world of pain and provides a comprehensive, logical and realistic approach to this difficult problem.”

—James A. Young, M.D.
Chairman, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rush University Medical Center

"Illustrative of pioneering work in terms of facing one's inner pain, Dr. James Gruft is an  accomplished physician-healer. I commend his many-faceted book not only to those afflicted with chronic pain and their caregivers, but a wide cross-section of other readers as well."

—Arthur Stein, Ph.D.