As the term “holistic” implies, Holistic therapy or holistic medicine, is based on the premise of treating the whole individual, including body, mind, and spirit. Holistic medicine is often contrasted with allopathic medicine. For this reason, holistic therapies are often referred to as alternative or complementary.

Western medicine has followed the general trend of Western science toward reductionism and focuses on physical causes and manifestations of disease. The assumption of most Western physicians tends to be that if a person has a problem, he or she must have a specific physical cause for that problem: a virus, a bacterial infection, an injury, a chemical imbalance, and so on. For this reason, Western medicine relies on research that demonstrates the efficacy of treatments in alleviating specific symptoms of illness. This is basically a mechanistic approach, and it works very well for some things. If a person has a physical problem, especially when the problem is acute, it makes good sense to address the individual’s physical needs first.

Holistic therapy engages the whole person in the process of improving health and well-being. Holistic therapists presuppose that an individual is more than a physical body and that treating the person’s physical body is just the beginning.

Holistic therapy does not preclude treating physical problems using known methodologies. The holistic approach, however, suggests that once the immediate physical problem has been addressed, the origins of the problem in the individual’s emotional, mental, and spiritual life be addressed. The general assumption of holistic therapy is that an individual’s emotions, attitudes, and lifestyle are principal contributors to his or her health, including tendency toward accidents and injuries and susceptibility to disease. For this reason, holistic therapy tends to stress prevention rather than cure.

Holistic therapy also tends to assume that no two individuals are identical and that—in spite of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual similarities—each will have differences that may require different therapeutic approaches. The assumption is that an individual’s health is more than simply the absence of disease. Holistic therapy includes a wide variety of modalities, all of which are designed to treat the entire person rather than treating the part affected by the problem.

Common holistic therapies include the following: acupuncture (and acupressure), aromatherapy, Chinese medicine (which uses herbs rather than pharmaceuticals), a variety of energy-based modalities (including Therapeutic Touch™, Healing Touch™, and Reiki), homeopathy, hypnotherapy and guided imagery, massage, osteopathy, reflexology, and shamanism. Holistic therapy is often called vibrational medicine because its approach to wellness emphasizes the flow and vibration of energy throughout the Human Energy Field.

Most holistic therapists believe that all healing is essentially self-healing, that individuals have within them the resources required to promote their own health and well-being, and one of the goals of holistic therapy is to encourage individuals to become active participants in their own health process.