What is Holistic Health

Holistic health is a relatively new concept for many people in today's society. For quite some time, health was considered to be survival long enough to reproduce. The concept of health is now evolving beyond the view the health is the absence of disease. One doesn't have to be sick to be unhealthy. We can be physically sound, but emotionally disease and spiritually void.

Many people have asked me, including numerous patients if alternative medicine and holistic health are the same thing. While they may be perceived that way, I've often found that an alternative medicine or therapy, if it focuses primarily on treating the body, it does not possess a holistic approach.

In modern medical circles, rarely, if ever, is health discussed or defined. And disease treatment is the entire main focus of the day.

Clearly there is a need for a broader, more encompassing definition. I believe holistic health is a state of well-being and vitality where the individual is able to express his or her physical, emotional, intellectual, creative and spiritual capacities in a manner that is harmonious with that individual, others, society and all of life. Health is not an end result, it s a process- a means that enables us to serve our life purpose, to live fully and abundantly.

We all have the capacity to express health, despite our focus on disease in our society. In fact, it is amazing to me how strong the body actually is. Once we begin to take better care of ourselves,

Holistic health is not achieved only treating physical symptoms, while ignoring the underlying psychological and emotional issues causing illness. To achieve a balanced state of health, one must take into consideration, physical, emotional, and psychological factors to develop an effective treatment plan.

The larger issue of becoming healthy revolves around the willingness to accept responsibility for healing the disease and illness and to explore those aspects of self, which deny our personal wholeness. It seems that a unique aspect of the human experience is the opportunity to weave together the many facets of our evolving life pattern into a meaningful whole.

When doctors treat illnesses, we need to become, as a group more understanding of as many of these influences as possible. Disease is a manifestation of an existing imbalance that the individual is unable to resolve on any level. It is caused and shaped by a number of influences which may or may not bear a direct causal relationship to each other.

I've witnessed the ability of many patients occasions express the tremendous innate healing power we all possess. Its presence is awesome and powerful, to the extent that descriptions are shadows of the experiences. I've seen the miracle of terminal cancers suddenly disappearing from bodies racked with pain and anguish. I've seen the dead return to life, their bodies remarkably unaffected by the death experience. I've also watched babies, tiny premature infants too small to exist on their own, survive against insurmountable odds. These and other experiences have convinced me of the urgent need for transformation and change of both our philosophy and the focus of our health care system. This will make the miracles of health and healing available to as many Americans as possible.