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Mind-Body Interventions

Art Therapy
Biofeedback
Dance-Movement Theory
Hypnotherapy
Interactive Guided Imagery
Meditation
Yoga
Bioelectromagnetic Applications in Medicine

Light Therapy
Magnetic Field Therapy
Alternative Systems of Medical Practice Oriental Medicine Practices

Acupressure
Acupuncture
Ayurveda
Homeopathy
Naturopathic Medicine
Qi Gong
Tai Chi
Community-Based Health Care Practices

Traditional Medicine in Latin America
Native American Medicine
Shamanism
Manual Healing Methods

Chiropractic
Osteopathic Medicine
Massage Therapy
body whork

Alexander Technique
Aston Patterning
Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy
Reiki
Bowen Technique
Rosen Method
Pharmacologic and Biologic Treatments

Antineoplastons
Chelation Therapy
Enzyme Therapy
Herbal Medicine
Flower Essences
Diet and Nutrition in the Prevention and Tretment of Disease

Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Oxidative Stress
Orthomolecular Medicine
Unclassified Diagnostic and Treatment Methods

Applied Kinesiology
Aromatherapy
Biologic Dentistry
Color Therapy
Detoxification Therapy
Environmental Medicine
Alternative Medicine Basic Principles of Complementary / Alternative Therapies
Alternative Medicine The Dilemma of Evidence
Alternative Medicine Leaving the Medical Model
Alternative Medicine Integration
+ (alternative medicine news)

Basic Principles of Complementary and Alternative Therapies

JUST AS MAINSTREAM MEDICINE has a fairly consistent approach to illness, so does al-ternative medicine. Most prevalent in alternative medicine are the six naturopathic principles. In one form or another, these principles are revisited again and again throughout Section Two of this text. The following principles are described by Dr. Catherine Downey and excerpted from her chapter on naturopathic medicine.

1. The Healing Power of Nature (Vis medicatix naturae)

The body has the inherent ability to establish, maintain and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent: nature heals through the response of the life force. The physician's role is to facilitate and augment this process, to act to identify and remove obstacles to health and recovery, and to support the creation of a healthy internal and external environment. In short, give the body the appropriate tools and it will heal itself.

2. Treat the Whole Person (The multifactorial nature of health and disease)

Health and disease are conditions of the whole organism, involving a complex interaction of physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, and social factors. The physician must treat the whole person by taking all of these factors into account. The harmonious functioning of all aspects of the individual is essential to recovery from and prevention of disease and requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment.

3. First Do No Harm (Primum no nocere)

Illness is a purposeful process of the organism. The process of healing includes the generation of symptoms, which are, in fact, an expression of the life force attempting to heal itself. Therapeutic actions should be complementary to and synergistic with this healing process. The physician's actions can support or antagonize the actions of the vis mediatrix naturae; therefore methods designed to suppress symptoms without removing underlying causes are considered harmful and are avoided or minimized. Therapeutic actions are applied in an ordered fashion congruent with the internal order of the organism.

4. Identify and Treat the Cause (Tolle causam)

Illness does not occur without cause. Underlying causes of disease must be discovered and removed or treated before a person can recover completely from illness. Symptoms are expressions of the body's attempt to heal, but they are not the cause of disease; therefore naturopathic medicine addresses itself promptly to the underlying causes of disease, rather than symptoms. Causes may occur on many levels, including physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual. The physician must evaluate fundamental underlying causes on all levels, directing treatment at root cause rather than at symptomatic expression.

5. Prevention (Prevention is the best "cure")

The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention. This is accomplished through education and promotion of lifestyle habits that create good health. The physician assesses risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and makes appropriate interventions to avoid further harm and risk to the patient. The emphasis is on building health rather than on fighting disease. Because it is difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world, it is the responsibility of both the physician and patient to create a healthier environment in which to live.

6. The Physician as Teacher (Docere)

Beyond an accurate diagnosis and appropriate prescription, the physician must work to create a health-sensitive, interpersonal relationship with the patient. A cooperative doctor-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. The physician's major role is to educate and encourage the patient to take responsibility for health. The physician is a catalyst for healthful change, empowering and motivating the patient to assume responsibility. It is the patient, not the doctor, who ultimately creates or accomplishes healing. The physician must strive to inspire hope as well as understanding. Physicans must also make a commitment to their personal and spiritual development in order to be good teachers.

(alternative medicine) A few clarifying points round out the complementary approach:

Alternative medicine does not suppress symptoms. It attempts to delve deeper than the symptoms and address their causes. This in turn diminishes or eliminates the symptoms.

Similar alternative treatment strategies are often applied to many unrelated disease and illnesses because the core alternative philosophy states that many illness manifestations stem from common root causes. There are no "off-label" indications for alternative medicine.

Alternative medicine is less interested in the manifestations of the disease and more interested in those elements that created the disease in the first place.

The patient is part of the healthcare team and has a strong say in planning for a future therapeutic approach. Patients are empowered to participate in the decision process and, in turn, have the responsibility to enact what they have agreed to do. In these scenarios, noncompliance is much less common.

The mind-body correlation is extremely important. Learning about the patient's social life, family life, and work life, and significant life events that predate the onset of illness can help immensely in understanding contributing factors in a patient's illness and in formulating a treatment plan. Even asking the question, "What happened to you around the time this illness began?" can be most revealing.

Many variations on this approach will be apparent through the pages of this text. The sense of facilitating a natural process or returning the patient to a natural state of balance is the common theme overall.

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