Benson, Herbert, 1935-

Herbert Benson (1935- ), MD 1961, Harvard Medical School, is a cardiologist and specialist in mind/body medicine, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Mind/Body Medical Institute Associate. Benson, a behavioral medicine specialist, developed modern scientific techniques to study the body's inherent self-healing mechanisms. Benson served as an Associate Physician at Beth Israel Hospital, was a member of the Active Provisional Staff at New England Deaconess Hospital, and, in 1990, became a member of the Active Staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center when the two hospitals merged. Benson was also founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in 1988. His research and publications focus on the "relaxation response," placebo effects, positive effects of faith and spirituality in healing, and Tibetan monk meditation.

Herbert Benson, MD, a cardiologist and specialist in mind/body medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, was born in 1935 in Yonkers, New York. He received the AB from Wesleyan University in 1957, and, after serving as class president from 1958-1959, he received the MD from Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 1961. He married Marilyn Benson, and they had two children, Jennifer Benson and Gregory Benson.

During the four years following graduation, HB completed a medical residency at the University of Washington, Seattle, and clinical and research fellowships at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan. He returned to HMS in 1965 as a Research Fellow in Medicine, and a Research and Clinical Fellow in Medicine at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory at Boston City Hospital (BCH).

HB's appointments at Harvard Medical School are as follows: Instructor in Physiology and Instructor in Medicine, 1969; Assistant Professor of Medicine, 1970; Associate Professor of Medicine, 1972; Associate Professor of Medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital, 1977; Associate Professor of Medicine, 1982; and Mind/Body Medical Institute Associate Professor of Medicine in 1992. Harvard University has also established the Herbert Benson Professorship in Medicine, to be activated upon his retirement.

At BCH HB became an Assistant Visiting Physician, II and IV Medical Service (Harvard) in 1967, a Research Associate at BCH’s Thorndike Memorial Laboratory in 1969, and an Associate Visiting Physician with the Harvard Medical Unit in 1971. In 1974, he became Associate Physician at Beth Israel Hospital; in 1986, a member of the active provisional staff at New England Deaconess Hospital, and in 1990, a member of the active staff of the newly merged Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He became founding President of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in 1988.

HB’s pioneering work in behavioral medicine, mind/body studies, and spirituality and healing initially stemmed from efforts to help cardiology patients suffering physical manifestations of stress. Benson used modern scientific techniques to study the body’s innate self-healing mechanisms, and how they may be used to treat or prevent serious diseases, pain, and infertility. His contributions include the original definition of the “relaxation response,” the counterpart to renowned physiologist Walter B. Cannon’s “fight or flight” response, and proof of its physiological value in stress reduction. Benson also analyzed the “placebo effect,” or the physical effects of a treatment or medication that has no specific action on the patient’s symptoms. A proponent of the positive consequences of faith and spirituality for healing, his Himalayan field expeditions and subsequent studies of Tibetan monk meditation have served as a bridge between Western medicine and that of other times and cultures, and as evidence of the mind's ability to control physical responses.

HB was a consultant for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on numerous projects between 1972 and 1994, and testified before the US House and Senate to secure funding from the NIH towards mind/body and behavioral medicine research. In addition, his work, mainly at the MBMI, resulted from substantial financial support from the Adolph Coors Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation.

Benson often wrote for professional publications, including the American Journal of Medicine, Behavioral Medicine (where he served as Executive Editor from 1981-1993), International Journal of Cardiology, and Science. Topics included the relaxation response, placebo effects, positive effects of faith and spirituality in healing, and Tibetan monk meditation.

HB is a best-selling author or co-author of ten books concerning mind/body medicine of which over four million copies are in print. Titles include The Relaxation Response (1975); The Mind/Body Effect (1979); Beyond the Relaxation Response (1984); Your Maximum Mind (1987); The Wellness Book (1992); Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief (1996); The Relaxation Response - Updated and Expanded (25th Anniversary Edition) (2000); The Breakout Principle, co-authored with William Proctor (2003); Mind Over Menopause, co-authored with Leslee Kagan (2004); and Mind Your Heart, co-authored with Aggie Casey (2004).

HB participated in many professional societies, including the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (1978-1982), the American College of Cardiology (1975-1996), and the Society of Behavioral Medicine (1978-), where he served as President from 1985-1986. The recipient of many awards and citations, Benson lectures widely about current research at the MBMI, and often appears in national and international news programs.