You may have heard the term before, but what is holistic therapy?
Holistic just means whole, so the term considers the whole person, body, mind and soul. There are many forms of holistic treatment, from acupuncture, reiki to hypnotherapy. They are not normally considered mainstream forms of treatment.
Some may be classified as complementary, which means they compliment other forms of treatment, for example aromatherapy may be considered a complementary form of treatment to say counselling for anxiety.
Others may be classed as alternative, this is where it perhaps gets a little trickier. Some might say aromatherapy is used as an alternative medicine and there is debate around whether hypnotherapy is considered a complimentary or alternative treatment.
In many cases the use of holistic medicine is up to the individual. There are evidence based results simply not recognised by many in the scientific community. Perhaps one of the issues is that some practices are not regulated by statutory professional regulation but purely by professional associations and accredited registers e.g. The National Hypnotherapy Society or the Federation of Holistic Therapists. This means the individual has met independent professional and ethical standards.
What do we think? if it works for you….why not.
some complementary and alternative medicine:
acupuncture
aromatherapy
chiropody
gong therapy
herbalism
homeopathy
hypnotherapy
massage therapy
meditation
nutritional therapy
osteopathy
reflexology
tai chi
yoga
source: nhs.uk
