What is Holistic Medicine?

The foundation of holistic health is the philosophy of the "healing power of nature." It is an approach to health care that emphasizes on the study of all aspects of a person's health including physical, mental, and emotional.

Holistic health science incorporates many therapeutic modalities and makes use of natural substances and therapies that give support to the body; food, nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, bioenergetic medicine, lifestyle and counseling. Holistic medicine focuses on identifying and correcting the cause of a condition, not simply the symptoms of a condition.

Holistic health takes care of a person from the preventive stage all the way through to serious, chronic and debilitating diseases. Quite simply put, holistic health is a system which is concerned with the whole person (body, mind & spirit), rather than just the problems afflicting a person's organs and body system.

Holistic health sciences recognizes and uses the fact that the body is a self-healing organism, working with the knowledge that if the right environment and opportunity for self-healing can be created - repair, recovery and good health will result spontaneously and ill health will be prevented.

To heal in harmony with the natural functions of the body without harm is the underlying principle of the holistic system of health care. The intent is to support the natural healing potential of the human body as validated by modern scientific research. It is this combination of the healing power of nature and scientific methods that makes naturopathic medicine an important system of medicine for today's health care.

Nature acts powerfully through the healing mechanisms of the body and mind to maintain and restore health. Holistic medicine works to restore and support these inherent healing systems when they have broken down, by using methods, medicines, and techniques that are in harmony with natural processes.

Every illness has an underlying cause, often an aspect of the lifestyle, diet, or habits of the individual. A holistic practitioner looks for, finds and removes the underlying cause of a disease with non-invasive treatments, which minimize the risks of harmful side effects.

Health or disease results from a complex interaction of physical, emotional, dietary, genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and other factors. Holistic health looks at and treats the whole person, taking these factors into account. The holistic approach to health can prevent minor illnesses from developing into more serious, chronic, or degenerative diseases.

Above all, holistic health respect the natural healing power present in all systems of the human body and attempts to focus and mobilize that power in the treatment process. Holistic health practitioners have found that this natural healing power, if effectively mobilized, can destroy invading organisms, cast off toxins, as well as rebuild strength and vitality.