"This unique and interesting book examines the processes by which our bodies heal, and applies that learning to the healing of relationships. The authors share current brain science research relating to the damaging effects of trauma and the protective effects of positive emotions and experiences. A very valuable and useful new perspective."

— Brian Allain, Founder of Writing for Your Life and How to Heal Our Divides

“In this engaging book, a physician and a scientist share their stories of injury and healing. As they describe the amazing biological processes at work in our physical bodies, we gain new insights into ways to promote healing in our relationships, churches, and communities. A timely book.”

— Deborah Haarsma PhD, President of BioLogos

“On this fascinating journey, two medical friends invite readers into the human body’s capacity to heal its physical wounds as our spiritual blueprint for healing our broken communities. Both kind, savvy and encouraging, pediatrician Jennie McLaurin and scientist Cymbeline Tancongo Culiat apply the balm of insight, story and encouragement to inspire fresh ways of exploring how people can be healed and also transformed. It’s a restorative adventure worth taking.”

— Patricia Raybon, author My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness and I Told the Mountain to Move: Learning to Pray So Things Change

“This is a book of hope—hope in the grace that courses through our healing physical bodies and for the communal bodies that we live among. The wonders of science, illuminated by a physician and a molecular geneticist, shed light on possibilities for families, neighborhoods, churches, and the body politic. Drs. McLaurin and Culiat are close friends who share deep commitments to science, motherhood, and living out their Christian faith in our complicated world. Facing into the reality of woundedness, physical and social, they offer ways of seeing and living that will bless the world.”

— Susan S. Phillips, Ph.D., Executive Director of New College Berkeley (an affiliate of the Graduate Theological Union), is a sociologist whose books include “The Crisis of Care: Affirming and Restoring Caring Practices in the Helping Professions” (with Patricia Benner) and “The Cultivated Life: From Ceaseless Striving to Receiving Joy.”

"I have tried to come up with just the right word to advocate this book. And the best I can do is 'marvelous.' Medical doctor Jennie McLaurin, with the help of her friend, molecular geneticist, Cymbeline Culiat, has written a marvelous book. Marvelous because of the way she opens up for us the marvels of the human body, in particular the marvel of the body's inherent capacity for healing. I was stunned by what she shows us. The ability of the body to repair, restore, and even regenerate. Dr. McLaurin takes us through the marvelous stages by which such wound healing takes place, and applies them to the healing of corporate bodies, especially the church, the Body of Christ. Through stories of healing, clear and easily grasped biological explanations, and solid theological insights, I find myself lifted into hope that all wounds can be healed, and one day will be. Marvelous in every sense of the word!"

— Darrell Johnson, retired pastor and professor, Teaching Fellow at Regent College, theological mentor to a variety of para-church ministries, mentor to young preachers.

"To work in prison ministry is to see, day in and day out, the damage that unhealed wounds can create in a life and a community. The authors have definitely created something unique Insight and expertise are both sorely needed and perhaps nowhere more than on the subjects of trauma and healing. This book paints a vivid picture of the hope we share - that God’s love can bring healing to even the most profound of wounds, and the mechanisms through which that healing may come to pass."

— Jed Brewer, Director of Productions of Mission:USA.

“Designed to Heal gives us a glimpse of what we can learn from magnificent design of physical healing and how it teaches us to experience relational and emotional healing as well. It marries both scientific and spiritual understanding to give a visual presentation the work that is needed for us to be completely restored and transformed not only from our physical wounds but also from our emotional, relational, and spiritual wounds as individuals and as one body of Christ. I recommend that you read this book, and hope that it blesses you!”

— Dr. Peter Tan-Chi, Senior Pastor, Christ’s Commission Fellowship

"The prevalence and intensity of current conflicts in personal and communal lives have reached critical levels globally. This book presents a refreshing and intriguing new perspective on how the injuries in our lives can heal by applying the principles of how the physical body naturally heals wounds. Combining scientific and medical knowledge with engaging stories from the clinic, laboratory, and their lives, the authors have crafted a unique work that has great potential to bring healing to the injured spaces of any reader’s life.”

— Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, President, Summit Media, Manila, Philippines

“McLaurin and Culiat thoughtfully compare the biological processes of wound healing to the steps that need to be taken to heal the human soul, what the Greeks called our psyche. Although biological healing appears spontaneous and almost miraculous (even to the medical community), healing our hearts requires more intervention. Whether it is our individual psyche, or the corporate psyche of our families and communities, the authors provide practical examples (many from their own lives) which can encourage and enable us to seek the healing that leads to wholeness. I wholeheartedly recommend the book as one I will share with friends and family.”

— Roger E. Stoller, Ph.D., Distinguished Materials Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired)

“When I began reading Designed to Heal, I felt the same flush of excitement that I had when I first encountered Dr. Paul Brand, my collaborator on three books. These two authors, a researcher and a physician, have woven together a rare combination of vivid science, compassionate story-telling, and lasting spiritual lessons. A delight to read.”

— Philip Yancey

“The teamwork of these remarkable professional women has produced a living document that vividly focuses on the processes designed by God to bring healthy restoration for damaged physical bodies and human communities. The book hums with a God-given energy.”

— Luci Shaw, author and poet, The Thumbprint in the Clay, and The Generosity, poems