The human body heals itself. This is a truth so basic that we take it for granted. Yet this divine, image-bearing characteristic of humanity does not extend to our social bodies. We are fallen, and the relational wounds that we give and receive from each other do not heal themselves. The call to followers of Christ, His body, is to recognize this proclivity and to overcome it. We do not retreat from the world’s suffering into cloistered isolation, nor do we attempt to transcend it through the acquisition of power—but we enter the world’s wounds with healing intention. McLaurin and Culiat provide along with their renowned expertise, captivating personal experiences, as well as the latest medical and scientific insights as to what actually occurs when the body heals itself. Yet they also demonstrate in profound ways how this intricate, fascinating process provides a surprising roadmap for healing outside the body. This book is so timely and much needed for those who care to be intentional about their calling to heal and to sacrificially bridge the festered and “inflamed” divisions of our present world.

This book written by Dr. Jennie McLaurin and Dr. Bem Culiat is a timely must read and weave of wonder and awe at every turn. A tapestry of His seen and unseen beauty of intricate creativeness and design to heal ~ where science, nature, and medicine do not disprove God or separate themselves from our life of faith but instead takes our hand and leads us personally, collectively, and corporately to a display of hope in the hard. A hope that lends itself to a place of soft landing of His faithful attend where prayers are received, Ebenezer’s are erected, worship is bred and born, and amens are met and rooted in our tethered and gathered lives. What a beautiful message and friend to that end this book is. One that will no doubt serve to be used as a layman tool, guide, and teacher to many for years to come.

This book helped me think about health in a new way. One of the first things I noted was the use of the word “resilient” to describe our body’s urgent and coordinated drive toward healing. The authors describe in technical detail the powerful, complicated and mysterious systems that are in place, waiting to spring into action when we are wounded or traumatized.

Although much has been written about the mind/body relationship in pursuit of good health, this book constructs a new bridge linking the wounded, but resilient, physical body with the traumatized emotional or spiritual body. Making the assumption that everyone is wounded to some degree (some catastrophically) the hopeful premise offered is that even our minds and souls are resilient.

Understanding this, some additional parallels are drawn between medical and spiritual interventional therapies. There are also a few fascinating descriptions of bodily processes that we can emulate to advance our own healing, that of our communities, and help us contribute to the healing of our broken world one action at a time – and healing takes time.

This is not a self-help book, it’s a self-awareness book. If you’re put off by spiritual references, know that this book addresses both body and soul but not in an overbearing way. Applying the lessons of medical science to the painful realities of life has helped me think about my own amazing design.

Using the healing process physical wounds as an analogy for how we heal relational wounds the author presents a beautiful picture of how we can continue in relationships when faced with hurts. I love analogies and thoroughly enjoyed reading the medical examples! Fell flat when it came to discussions of why people have breaks in relationships- overly simplistic, perhaps naive?

As a disability theologian, I was a bit conflicted with this book. It's overly scientific and simplistic at times. She does a good job at acknowledging the existence of chronic illnesses and ways to maintain them but doesn't talk much about the identity and community that are formed in those groups. For me, as a disabled clergy person, the community is extremely healing when properly done. And often medical providers look at us as things with broken parts instead of complex beings. I was appreciative of how she did a better job than most at intertwining all of these conversations, but I would say it fell a bit flat and would have done much better if she had engaged with more critical disability theology.

Designed to Heal is a noteworthy book first and foremost because of its unique premise. How does the body’s incredible network of healing mechanisms teach us about how we can heal within interpersonal, familial, and community relationships? The author(s) of this book set out to answer this question, and I think they have begun an important conversation. I think this will appeal largely to healthcare workers or those who find the intricate inner workings of the body fascinating. The authors did a good job teaching about the body’s processes, but I found the link between those and our relationship wounds to be weak in some places. Overall, this is an encouraging work that helps us focus on how we can heal rather than allowing wounds to fester or define us.

This book was written by a physician and a medical researcher, both of whom are Christians. Designed to Heal explains the various healing processes of the body in ways that are easy to understand for the average layperson. They then use these physical healing processed to explore how individuals and groups might heal emotional and psychological problems effectively using similar processes, The book also includes a discussion guide for small groups.
This book could be useful for church leaders or leaders in other Christian organizations as a discussion guide for change. It is not a "how to" guide, though and so may not be fully applicable to all conflict circumstances.
I received a complementary copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.