For many years science held the almost self-evident belief that the brain is an organ like any other, and that everything we think and do must be the result of biological processes in the brain over which we would have no control. But is it true? 

Lange tijd heerste in de wetenschap de haast vanzelfsprekende overtuiging, dat de hersenen een orgaan zijn als alle andere, en dat daarom alles wat wij denken en doen het resultaat moet zijn van biologische processen in die hersenen waar wij geen zeggenschap over zouden hebben.

The approach of this Companion is to specify in what ways and in what sense intuition can be trained in medical practice and how this can contribute to individualization of treatment.

In deze Companion wordt beschreven op welke manier en in welke zin intuïtie kan worden voorbereid in de medische praktijk, en hoe dit kan bijdragen aan die individualisering.

How do you develop clinical intuition? How do physicians gain practical knowledge about disease?

How can we look at children using “constitutional typology?” Can we find coherence in and give meaning to their appearance and behavioral characteristics? 
This Companion addresses these questions with examples that are recognizable to many. 

Hoe kunnen we met behulp van de constitutie­typologie naar een kind leren kijken? Kunnen we samenhang vinden in, en betekenis geven aan, uiterlijk en gedragskenmerken? Wat kan daar de meerwaarde van zijn?
Deze Companion gaat in op deze vragen, met voorbeelden die voor velen herkenbaar zullen zijn. 

A methodological approach towards integrative understanding.

This Companion contributes to an integral approach of dementia and of the person that is experiencing dementia. It does not close its eyes to the horrors of the disease, but despite these provides new perspectives to meet the process of the withdrawing of the mind with courage and confidence.

This Companion contributes to an integral approach of dementia and of the person that is experiencing dementia. It does not close its eyes to the horrors of the disease, but despite these provides new perspectives to meet the process of the withdrawing of the mind with courage and confidence.

The treatment of depressive disorders is increasingly under scrutiny. We classified the risk factors of depressive disorders with the scientific methods applied in systems biology and with the 4-step approach.

Dit boek benadert depressie vanuit een fenomenologische en systeembiologische achtergrond. Fenomenologisch wordt vanuit patroonherkenning recht gedaan aan individuele factoren die het ontstaan en beloop van depressie beïnvloeden.

In this Companion, the experience of three of our own patients with asthma and pneumonia is used as backdrop for our study of airway disorders. 

After finalizing the series BOLK’S Companions for the Study of Medicine for the moment, this Companion on The Healing Process introduces a new series of BOLK’S Companions that studies the Practice of Medicine. In it, we research the healing process itself.

Pharmacology gives us insight into the way organic processes change when foreign compounds are introduced into the organism.

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Why write this new booklet on immunology when there are already so many excellent texts on the subject?

This Companion is about questions such as: why is it that the immune system functions as a unity? How are immune functions coordinated?

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Can physiology give more insight into the living human organism than the mere facts reveal at first? Is the level of activity the same for all organs? Are the vital qualities at work in organs unique for organisms and limited to biological activity? Can we find a scientific basis to research the coherence between organ systems?

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Kann uns die Physiologie tiefere Einsichten in den menschlichen Organismus geben als es die reinen Fakten zunächst vermögen? Sind alle Organe in gleichem Maße „aktiv“? Sind die vitalen Qualitäten, die in den Organen wirken, nur in lebenden Organismen zu finden und auf biologische Prozesse beschränkt? Gibt es eine wissenschaftliche Methode, mit der die Zusammenhänge zwischen den Organsystemen erforscht werden können?

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Can we give a scientific basis to our feeling that human morphology has unique features? Are  the human mind and the human anatomy ‘nothing but’ yet another variation of animal life? Can we find answers to these questions that satisfy both our hearts and our minds?

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Medical biochemistry offers insight into the continuous changes within the human organism. But can we remain mindful of the coherence of the (changing) organism as we study the details? How can the many processes be understood as prototypical aspects of a unique organism?

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Early embryological development can teach us about the unique and characteristic qualities of humans.

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