Four Things That Matter Most - 10th Anniversary Edition

Ira Byock, MD, is a leading palliative care physician, author, and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. His research and writing have helped to define quality of life and quality of care for people living with advanced medical conditions. He has been involved in hospice and palliative care since 1978 and is a founding member and past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. From 1996 through 2006, he served as Director for Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care, a national grant program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.Dr. Byock is Chief Medical Officer of the Institute for Human Caring of Providence Health and Services system. From 2003 through July 2013 he directed the palliative care program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Dr. Byock is a Professor of Medicine and Community & Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.More information is available at IraByock.org.

• ContentsPart One: The Four ThingsChapter 1: Saying the Four ThingsChapter 2: The Healing Power of WordsChapter 3: Completing RelationshipsChapter 4: TransformationsPart Two: ForgivenessChapter 5: Loved Ones Live On Inside UsChapter 6: Resolving a Legacy of PainChapter 7: The Emotional Economics of ForgivenessChapter 8: Extreme Acts of ForgivenessChapter 9: Forgiving YourselfChapter 10: Living with Uncertainty and IllnessPart Three: Thank YouChapter 11: Practicing GratitudeChapter 12: The Unexpected Grace of ReconnectionChapter 13: The Family Dynamics of GratitudePart Four: I Love YouChapter 14: Creative Ways of Saying the Four ThingsChapter 15: Loving the BodyChapter 16: Living Every Day as if It Were Your First -- or LastChapter 17: Lives Intertwined with LovePart Five: Good-byeChapter 18: Nothing Left UnsaidChapter 19: The Mysterious Magic of Some Good-byesChapter 20: Good-byes That Are Gifts Through TimeChapter 21: Good-byes That Celebrate LifeAfterword: Reflections Before Good-byeAcknowledgmentsIndex

Caroline Myss Author of Sacred Contracts, Why People Don't Heal and How They Can, and Anatomy of the Spirit The Four Things That Matter Most is a book of commonsense wisdom that has the power to dynamically change your life. It is a pleasure to recommend a book that encourages you to transform the quality of your life in simple ways that actually work.