Principles of Holistic Medicine
By American Holistic Medical Association
Holistic medicine is the art and science
of healing that addresses the whole person
- body, mind, and spirit. The practice of
holistic medicine integrates conventional
and alternative therapies to prevent and treat
disease, and most importantly, to promote
optimal health. This condition of holistic
health is defined as the unlimited and unimpeded
free flow of life force energy through body,
mind, and spirit.
Holistic medicine encompasses all safe and
appropriate modalities of diagnosis and treatment.
It includes analysis of physical, nutritional,
environmental, emotional, spiritual and lifestyle
elements. Holistic medicine focuses upon patient
education and participation in the healing
process.
The Principles
of Holistic Medical Practice
· Holistic
physicians embrace a variety of safe, effective
options in the diagnosis and treatment, including
education for lifestyle changes and self-care,
complementary alternatives, and conventional
drugs and surgery
· Searching
for the underlying causes of disease is preferable
to treating symptoms alone.
· Holistic
physicians expend as much effort in establishing
what kind of patient has a disease as they
do in establishing what kind of disease a
patient has.
· Prevention
is preferable to treatment and is usually
more cost-effective. The most cost-effective
approach evokes the patient's own innate healing
capabilities.
· Illness
is viewed as a manifestation of a dysfunction
of the whole person, not as an isolated event.
· A
major determinant of healing outcomes is the
quality of the relationship established between
physician and patient, in which patient autonomy
is encouraged.
· The
ideal physician-patient relationship considers
the needs, desires, awareness and insight
of the patient as well as those of the physician.
· Physicians
significantly influence patients by their
example.
· Illness,
pain, and the dying process can be learning
opportunities for patients and physicians.
· Holistic
physicians encourage patients to evoke the
healing power of love, hope, humor and enthusiasm,
and to release the toxic consequences of hostility,
shame, greed, depression, and prolonged fear,
anger, and grief.
· Unconditional
love is life's most powerful medicine. Physicians
strive to adopt an attitude of unconditional
love for patients, themselves, and other practitioners.
· Optimal
health is much more than the absence of sickness.
It is the conscious pursuit of the highest
qualities of the physical, environmental,
mental, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects
of the human experience.
This material is used with the permission
of the American
Holistic Medical Association (AHMA).
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Use
the information provided on this site as an
educational resource for determining your
options and making your own informed choices.
It is not intended as medical advice or to
diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific
illness.