Holistic therapy is a treatment of healing that considers the entire person. It considers the body, mind, spirit, and emotion to achieve optimum health and wellbeing. According to the holistic philosophy of medicine, one should achieve a proper balance in life. This was he can achieve optimal health—the primary goal of holistic medicine practice.
Practitioners in holistic medicine assume that interdependent sections made up the whole person. If one component does not perform correctly, it can affect all the other pieces. In this way, if people have imbalances in their lives, they can negatively affect their overall health.
A holistic doctor could use all health care firms. They use conventional medicine to alternative therapy to treat a patient. For example, suppose a person suffering from migraine headaches visits a holistic doctor. In that case, the doctor will likely look at all the possible factors that could cause a person’s headaches. These factors include other health problems, diet and sleep patterns, stress, personal problems, etc. The treatment plan may involve drugs to relieve symptoms and lifestyle changes to prevent headaches.
History of Holistic Medicine
Holistic clinical medicine dates back to Hippocrates. Percival also recommended a holistic approach to patient care in his book. The book’s name is the first medical ethics textbook, first published in 1803. Percival added, “We need to know and attend to the thoughts and emotions of patients.”
More recently, John Macleod wrote a book called ‘Clinical Examination,’ first published in 1964. Here he said that ‘We should target to be holistic in our care.’ Also, Michael Balint wrote the book ‘The Doctor, the Patient, and his Disease,’ first published in 1957. It is a landmark in seeing the patient in general, rather than as an isolated pathology. Hence, illness is not just an isolated physical disorder or a random event. Perhaps bad habits begin in medical school, referring to the patient as objects.”
A holistic approach is a good practice. And it has long been strongly advocated by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Principles of Holistic Medicine
Holistic medicine is also based on the idea that unconditional love and support are the most effective healer and ultimately responsible for their health and wellbeing. Other principles of holistic medicine also include the following:
- All people have innate powers of healing.
- A patient is a person, not an illness.
- Healing takes a team approach involving both the patient and the doctor. And it addresses all aspects of a person’s life through various health care practices.
- Treatment involves trying to correct the cause of the condition, not just alleviating the symptoms.
Holistic Treatments
Holistic medicine is a basic philosophy. It directs holistic and complementary health practices outside traditional (allopathic) medicine.
There are innumerable medical modalities of this kind. Some of them are effective and safe in studies, which lead many conventional doctors to accept. They can also be prescribed in addition to mainstream therapy. The word used to describe the overlap of allopathic and holistic medicine is integrative medicine.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), groups non-mainstream medical practices in the following 5 categories.
- Alternative medical systems. Many of these are comprehensive healing practices established thousands of years ago. It includes traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda (from India). It also includes practices like homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, and chiropractic.
- Mind-body interventions. From yoga and meditation to the support groups for prayer and cancer. They aim to enhance the capacity of the mind to improve physical health.
- Biologically based therapies. Aromatherapy, natural medicine, and dietary supplements are included in this category. These are extracted from plants and other biological materials.
- Manipulative and body-based methods. These practices concentrate on the body and include massage therapy and chiropractic.
- Energy therapies. The idea behind these methods is that energy fields inside and outside an individual’s body can be controlled to improve health and wellbeing. Examples include Reiki and qi gong.
Suppose you want to work with a holistic doctor or take a more holistic approach to self-care. In that case, we recommend that you check with and notify your regular doctor first. This way, you can ensure the safety, efficacy, and benefits of collaborative, integrative care.
In addition to any of these specific treatments, a holistic doctor can recommend many other things. For instance, these include lifestyle changes, exercises, psychotherapy, or other counseling types. Also, a holistic doctor recommends them as part of an approach to healing and prevention.
It should be remembered that the AHHA emphasizes that a certified medical professional should have at least one licensed health care team. He should also have assistance from other medical practitioners.
Why Holistic Medicine Is Better In The Long Term?
Holistic medicine is a global philosophy that considers the body as a whole. And spiritually, to avoid diseases and to find optimal wellbeing. People can reach optimal health by having the right balance in their life.
The philosophy behind holistic health is that interdependent elements make up the human body. If one part of the body doesn’t work properly, the entire body won’t work correctly. Overall, this means that if people have imbalances in their life, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, the imbalance can affect their overall health.
Holistic medicine is helpful to long-term health. And it helps to prevent any problems along the line. Holistic medicine therapies are designed to improve the entire body with a focus on health. Treatments include improving the mind’s power to affect body functions and symptoms. The treatment uses substances such as antioxidants to improve healing and prevent future diseases. Instead of healing one factor of the body, it heals the body to improve sickness and life as a whole.
The Bottom Line
Identifying and managing discreet physical symptoms is the limit of conventional health care. Holistic medicine intends to expand the focus of health care beyond its limits. It focuses on how emotional and moral health factors affect general wellbeing. This body-mind-spirit approach has a lot to give, particularly for both physicians and patients.
