What is Integrative Healing? (Some Semantics)

Perhaps a better place to start would be with the question, What is "healing"? Many practitioners involved in alternative or complementary medicine question the use of the terms "healing" and "healer". These terms are viewed by some as egocentric and unbalanced, indicating that the "healee" is somehow lacking something that the "healer" has. This is, then, a fundamental power imbalance. Many who seek to help their fellow humans strive to do so in a humanistic, egalitarian, reciprocal manner. Dave and I are sympathetic to this view, and support it as much as humanly possible in our own practices. Nevertheless, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, we ask (nicely) that the readers of this blog allow us to use these terms, understanding that we in no way imply that healing is not of a Universal and individual source. In other words, healing is innate within each of us, and "healers" simply support the individual to open to and channel his or her innate abilities to heal.

I've already used the terms "alternative" and "complementary" medicine. These are often interchanged, but really they are not synonymous. Both terms relate to what is frequently called "Western" medicine--allopathic medicine, the realm of MDs and their allies; nurses and various technicians working alongside in medical offices, clinics, and hospitals. Why it is inaccurate to call this "Western" medicine will be covered in a later post. For now, suffice to say that "alternative medicine" refers to healing practices conducted in lieu of allopathic medicine, but "complementary medicine" refers to healing conducted alongside or in conjunction with allopathic medicine. An example of alternative medicine would be someone with signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection (burning on urination; flank tenderness; cloudy, malodorous urine are some of these) taking the supplement d-mannose and drinking large amounts of cranberry juice WITHOUT going to the medical doctor for an exam and antibiotic. "Without" is the key word. Someone with a urinary tract infection would be using complementary medicine if she were to go to an MD, begin on an antibiotic, and then take probiotics such as live culture yogurt and perhaps an immune-enhancing supplement to help the antibiotic work better while minimizing its side effects.

Integrative medicine, then, is the marriage of the best of complementary medicine and alternative medicine with the best of allopathic medicine. There are times when health is best attained or maintained using natural processes, whether energetic, botanical, or mineral. Believe it or not, though, there are times when allopathic medicine is required to "fix what's broke". Yes, that can mean synthetic substances and even sometimes "fooling Mother Nature" a bit. It does not mean, though, a dehumanizing, non-egalitarian process. That is not what we believe to be the best of allopathic medicine. To come: An Overview of Allopathic Medicine, An Overview of Alternative Medicine, How Can You Decide Where to Turn?, and more... ~Whitney


What has been YOUR experience with integrative medicine?