Holistic medicine

A system of medicine, encompassing a variety of new and not-so-new approaches, which has as its major tenets: health for the whole person; change in attitude conducive to healthy body chemistry and internal harmony; self-care and practitioner cooperation with the patient/client, rather than an authoritarian approach; careful diet and use of therapeutic plants rather than orthodox medicine; stimulation of the body's own healing processes rather than imposing external cures on it; discovering and removing the cause of ill health rather than treating the effects; the social and family context of health. The change in attitude to health and healing here implied, and the interrelation of body with mind and spirit, has lead to the use of the term behavioural medicine, although holistic – implying "wholeness" or "whole person" is more generally used. Techniques used include homeopathy, acupuncture, spiritual healing, esoteric healing, bioenergetics and gestalt therapy. Self-reliance and self-responsibility are emphasized, and the mind and body are treated as a single whole, taking cognizance of lifestyle, environment and spiritual development.

A study of the inter-connection between the psyche, the nerves and the immune system has lead to a new branch of medicine – psychoneuroimmunology – which demonstrates clearly the effect the mind and the emotions have on the body's susceptibility to disease. Some researchers claim that cancer, for example, is almost certainly related to lack of love or to love which is conditional.