Emmons, Henry

views updated

Emmons, Henry

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Luther College, Decorah, IA, B.A. (biology); University of Iowa, M.D., 1985.

ADDRESSES:

Home—MN. Office—AMC-Northfield, 1400 Jefferson Rd., Northfield, MN 55057; Center for Spirituality and Healing, 420 Delaware St. S.E., May Memorial Building, 5th Fl., MMC #505, Minneapolis, MN 55455; St. Olaf Counseling Center, c/o Shirley Hansen, Administrative Assistant, Room 19, Old Main Annex, 1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, MN 55057.

CAREER:

Psychiatrist in private practice; St. Olaf Counseling Center, Northfield, MN, staff, 1997—; Center for Spirituality and Healing, Minneapolis, MN, adjunct faculty; has also worked as a clinical psychiatrist for Health Partners and the Mind, Body, Spirit Clinic, both in Minneapolis, and for the Allina Medical Clinic in Northfield. Consultant to organizations; program leader for the Inner Life of Healers Retreat.

WRITINGS:

(With Rachel Kranz) The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Clinical psychiatrist Henry Emmons received high praise for his debut book, The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom, written with the assistance of Rachel Kranz. While some people who choose not to use Western medical practices to treat their depression seek Eastern wisdom instead, Emmons finds a happy combination of the two works well. Drawing fromAyurvedic medicine (a holistic system of healing that evolved in India more than 3,000 years ago), Western science, and Buddhist psychology, he describes different types of diets, supplements, exercises, medicines, and stress-relieving techniques that are optimal ways to relieve depression, a disease that may lead to anxiety, listlessness, or agitation. Describing case studies, as well as drawing from his own professional experiences, Emmons backs up his proposed treatments with scientific evidence on how they work to treat the whole body, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. A Publishers Weekly critic called The Chemistry of Joy a "well-articulated approach" to using Eastern and Western knowledge to treat the depressed. The reviewer added that even if one is not in need of such treatment, the book is a helpful guide for anyone wanting to lead a more healthy life. Mary Ann Hughes, writing in Library Journal, praised the "excellent self-help manual" as being "both useful and responsible."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, November 15, 2005, Mary Ann Hughes, review of The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom, p. 83.

Publishers Weekly, November 28, 2005, review of The Chemistry of Joy, p. 45.