The life-saving benefits of modern medicine are beyond question. However, its major drawback lies in its often-siloed or compartmentalized approach to health care—treating a patient based on individual symptoms instead of seeing them as a whole person.
Holistic medicine, the alternative approach to health and wellness, is a method of healing that addresses the entire person: body, mind, and spirit. It is grounded in the premise that a person is made of interdependent aspects, and thus, having a problem in just a single aspect can greatly affect all the others. Maintaining a healthy balance is central to ensuring optimal overall health.
Let’s get a better understanding of holistic medicine by learning about its principles.
Principles of Holistic Medicine
According to the American Holistic Health Association, holistic medicine can be broken down into 10 principles or ideas, some of which are outlined below:
- Healing Through Love
Holistic doctors strive to meet their patients with compassion, grace, and acceptance, in full awareness that a happy, healthy life is a by-product of loving, relational action.
Additionally, holistic doctors encourage patients to release negative emotions, such as hostility, shame, and prolonged anger, fear, and grief as suppressing these can lead to physical stress, which can wreak havoc on their overall health.
- The Body’s Intrinsic Healing Ability
Holistic doctors recognize that the body possesses the intrinsic ability to heal itself. They utilize complementary and alternative therapies like acupuncture, chiropractic care, homeopathy, massage therapy, etc.—which are designed to leverage the patient’s innate healing power, thereby helping them avoid drug tolerance or dependence and the potential side effects.
- Relationship-Centered Care
The ideal doctor-patient relationship is one that encourages patient autonomy and values the insights of both parties. Treatment outcomes greatly hinge on the quality of this relationship.
- Optimal Health is Not Tantamount to the Absence of Infirmity
Optimal health is so much more than the mere absence of a medical condition. It encompasses the conscious pursuit of physical, mental, social, spiritual, and emotional well-being through engagement in healthy behaviors.
- Prevention First and Treatment Second
Holistic doctors are proponents of preventive care. They work closely with patients to provide them with a good understanding of their risk factors for certain medical conditions and their current health status as well as recommend ways to address these factors even before the slightest manifestations develop.
Holistic doctors teach their patients effective preventive strategies, which are often a combination of lifestyle and behavior modifications, nutritional therapy, and stress management techniques.
Holistic Healing in Mankato, MN
At Between the Bridges Healing Center, our holistic doctors are renowned throughout Mankato for the unparalleled care they provide and their unwavering commitment to advancing the health and well-being of the men, women, and children in the community and beyond.
To learn more about our healthcare services or see one of our providers, call our friendly staff at (507) 388-7488, or fill out this form, and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
