Holistic and Integrative Medicine

What is Holistic Medicine?
Holistic medicine is the art and science of healing that addresses the whole person as an interdependent unit of body, mind, and spirit. The practice of holistic medicine integrates conventional and alternative therapies to prevent and treat disease. Most importantly it focuses on promoting optimal health. Optimal health is defined as the unlimited and unimpeded flow of life force energy through body, mind, and spirit.

Holistic medicine includes analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, spiritual and lifestyle elements. The holistic practice fosters patient education and participation in the healing process requiring dedication and time that conventional medicine cannot provide.

What is a Holistic Physician
A holistic physician: 1) views the patient as being ultimately responsible for his/her well being; 2) fosters and maintains a partnership with the patient, using therapies with which both feel comfortable; 3) evaluates and recommends treatment options that address the causes of an illness, as well as the symptoms.

A holistic physician may choose to integrate from a variety of both conventional and “alternative” treatments and therapies. Together, the patient and the physician work to develop an optimal course of treatment. This partnership is a powerful approach to healing and is the cornerstone of the holistic philosophy.