What is Holistic

Definition of Holistic Medicine is treatment of an individual as a complete person (mind body & spirit) including and as part of the environment they inhabit by use of one, some or all techniques (orthodox, complementary/alternative, conventional and/or novel) based on subjective evaluation and using professional skills born out of scientific and/or anecdotal evidence, including intuity and/or innovative application.

For the benefit of those of us who like to keep things simple, you practice holistically if:

You treat the person and not just the condition

You see the patient as an individual and treat them accordingly

You consider your patients' living and working conditions and, where appropriate, include making beneficial change to them as part of your treatment protocol or adjust your treatment to accommodate them

You use a range of professionally acquired therapeutic skills in addition to those associated with conventional medical and CAM practice

You give credit to your intuition gained from your professional experience and exercise your clinical judgement in the development and use of innovative techniques

You respect other medical disciplines, orthodox and CAM, and refer / inter-refer patients who may benefit from the specialist attention of a practitioner of another discipline