In the introduction, the author, Dr. Joe Dispenza, defines “placebo” as a harmless, non-active treatment, like a sugar pill or saline injection, which benefits its recipient because they expect a benefit. Placebo, the Latin word for “I will please,” is the medical term for a harmless, neutral treatment used as a control to prove the benefit of a new medication or treatment during trial, study, or experimentation. These fake treatments sometimes induce real, positive change—a phenomenon known as the placebo effect—suggesting that the expectation of improvement is sometimes enough to trigger physical healing. The author posits that individuals can deliberately trigger this effect in themselves, effectively becoming the placebo and enacting positive change simply by believing in their ability to do so. The introduction then warns that this book will not contain any discussion of the ethics of placebo treatment in medical trials or a discussion of “various healing modalities” (xxxi) both medically proven and/or holistic, and instead will address what the author considers to be the most intriguing modality: healing through thought alone.

The introduction then provides a brief overview of the contents of the book. Part 1, Chapters 1-10, comprises all the details and background information required to understand the placebo effect and how it can work. The chapters cover stories of seemingly miraculous cures brought about by fake surgeries and placebo treatments, and why they worked. They also cover the history of placebo treatments and how a placebo affects the body and the brain. They detail practices that the author claims can be used to induce future healing through visualization. Then, they cover the “quantum universe,” an aspect of the model of quantum mechanics. The author claims that since the quantum model dictates that all possibilities exist in the present moment, a reality must exist in which the individual is perfectly healthy exists. In order to experience this perfect health, the individual need only will themselves into that reality through meditation and visualization. The author then introduces success stories from his workshops in which he claims people used his techniques to heal themselves. He offers up brain scans collected by his “team of scientists” (xxxvi), which he claims prove these changes are real and were even witnessed in real time during his workshops.

Part 2, Chapters 11-12, provides examples of preparations to take before meditation, along with step-by-step instructions and techniques for the meditations Dispenza teaches, including transcripts of the meditation narrations he provides. He states, however, that he highly recommends purchasing the audio versions of his meditations, or attending his workshops, instead of relying solely on the book.

Dispenza concludes the introduction by warning that we don’t know everything about the placebo effect. However, he argues that a person doesn’t have to understand everything about a treatment for it to be successful. He also states that the placebo effect shouldn’t just be limited to healing physical conditions, but could be used to change any undesirable aspect of a person’s life.