Holism and Complementary Medicine Origins and principles

The return to holistic therapies is one of the most important developments in health over the past two decades. With preventative medicine being taken more seriously by conventional health practitioners, and the increasing popularity of natural and complementary therapies among consumers, it is clear that a holistic approach will be integral to health care in the future.

Holism and Complementary Medicine offers a systematic overview of traditional healing practices, the development of the Western biomedical model from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to the present, and the holistic philosophy which is the basis of complementary and alternative medicine in the West. The book explores the differences between holistic and conventional biomedical traditions and approaches, acknowledging the strengths of each. It also addresses key practice issues, examining the role holistic principles have to play in today's health system and explaining their place in the therapeutic relationship.

Holism and Complementary Medicine is an accessible guide for students, practitioners and anyone interested in the origins and core principles of natural therapies.

'This scholarly exploration of the conceptual evolution of holistic medicine is a fascinating read. Di Stefano is to be congratulated for his articulate insights into healing relationships and how our health paradigms enhance or inhibit our understanding of health and disease.' - Joseph Pizzorno, ND, President Emeritus, Bastyr University

'This is a magnificent read for students of natural and complementary medicine, as well as health professionals and lay public who have often wondered where the movement towards holism in medicine began and is headed.' - Paul Orrock, Head of the School of Natural and Complementary Medicine, Southern Cross University

'. . . brings together many threads that link the health of body, mind and society, drawing richly from a larger corpus of intellectual inquiry into history, philosophy, and human endeavor, including clinical medicine.' - Bruce Barrett MD PhD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Introduction: The making of a new medicine

Part One

1: Antiquity - the early origins of medicine

2: Middle times - the gathering light

3: Modernity and beyond - the temple of power

Part Two

4: Holism and reductionism in medicine - reconciling the opposites

5: The healing relationship - reflections on the clinical encounter

6: The therapeutic aims of holistic medicine - restoring the body, empowering the mind

7: Turning the medicine wheel - between paradigms

8: Firming the foundations - ways of knowing

9: Completing the circle - voices of reneweal

Glossary

References