What is Integrative Holistic Health Care?
The words health, heal and holy all have their origin in the same Anglo-Saxon word "haelen", which means to make whole. To be healthy is literally to be whole; to heal is to make whole. Holistic medicine goes beyond the concern for the lack of disease to the belief that to maximize one's health one must feel good about oneself and what one is doing in this world. This must ultimately combine all facets of the human experience and is the goal of "Holistic Medicine".
Said in more definitive words, "the goal of holistic medicine is to lead each of us into a dynamic and daily experience of improved health at all levels- physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially - while connecting us to life's most powerful medicine, unconditional love." (The Complete Self-Care Guide to Holistic Medicine) (updated version)
As each of us, both medical professionals and patients alike, work to bring about this wholeness "we are obliged to acknowledge and respect the holiness embodied in all creatures, or that our healing involves the preservation in us of the spirit and the breath of God." (Health is Membership - Author Wendell Berry)
As we see it, Holistic Medicine is not the abandonment of "Western Medicine", but the combination of it with proven traditional medicine from around the world. We believe that the focus is on the word "Whole" rather then any given approach used to bring about healing.
This path to becoming more "Whole" must take into account the following:
Physical Health - High energy and Vitality
Environmental Health - Harmony with your environment (neither harming nor being harmed)
Mental Health - Peace of mind and contentment
Emotional Health - Self-acceptance and high self-esteem
Spiritual Health - Experience of unconditional love/absence of fear
Social Health - Depth of commitment and ability to forgive
(The Complete Self-Care Guide to Holistic Medicine)
- Integrative Medicine — the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and the patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, health care professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.
- Holistic Medicine — medical care that views physical and mental and spiritual aspects of life as closely interconnected and equally important approaches to treatment.
- Integrative Holistic Medicine is the art and science of healing that addresses care of the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.
As you can see, what we end up with is health care that has a clear preventative approach rather than focusing on illness.
It is the goal of the Well Spring Health Center to help us move forward in all of these areas and is covered in detail by the question "What is the Center?"