Choosing an integrative healthcare approach is a wise decision because it is proactive and facilitates life-long health and well-being! Rather than strictly treating physical symptoms or conditions as they occur, an integrative healthcare approach strives to identify the underlying causes and contributing factors to "diseases" by adopting health-promoting lifestyles. At the heart of this philosophy, sometimes referred to as holistic medicine, are the following beliefs:
·True healing addresses the whole person; physical, nutritional, genetic, mental, emotional, environmental, social, and spiritual aspects of the self; and especially the interconnectedness and inseparability to these elements
·Optimal health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being - not merely the absence of sickness or disease
·One's body has a natural ability to maintain and heal itself, which can be enhanced with the appropriate supportive care
·Illnesses or diseases are not isolated events in one's life to be treated in an isolated fashion, but are evidence of an imbalance or disharmony of the whole person that allows an opportunity for self-reflection and growth
·The relationship between an individual and his or her healthcare provider can be one of a partnership based upon open communication, with an emphasis on education (especially toward health-promoting lifestyles), self care, personal responsibility, individual empowerment, and autonomy to invoke one's own inner healing capabilities.
Integrative healthcare utilizes safe and effective approaches for diagnosis and treatment, incorporating the best from conventional medicine and the complementary or alternative healing processes to develop a multidimensional integrative healing or wellness program.
