Ever since I opened up my practice at Heartwood, people have asked, “What exactly is Integrative Medicine?” To help answer that question, here are the 8 Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine taken from the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine website:
- Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
- All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, sprit, and community, as well as the body.
- Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body’s innate healing response.
- Effective interventions are that natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
- Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.
- Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.
- Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
- Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.
Here are reasons why I went into the field of Integrative Medicine
- I wanted to spend more time getting to know a patient as a whole by discussing not just their basic medical history but going further in depth by examining their diet/nutrition, sleep, lifestyle factors such as exercise, stress, spirituality, all of which contribute to a patient’s health and well-being.
- I wanted to learn about and offer patients more natural tools for healing. These include nutritional therapy, supplements, botanicals/herbals, whole systems medicine such as Ayurvedic medicine, and mind-body therapies.
- I wanted to collaborate with other practitioners – such as acupuncturists, massage therapists, exercise therapists, psychotherapists, chiropractors, naturopaths – who each have their own area of expertise but who share a common goal in helping people feel better and be well.
Please join me on Thursday, May 15 from 6:30-8pm at Heartwood. My colleague Dr. Vesna Skul will be discussing some of the supplements that we use in Integrative Medicine. (Click here for more information). I look forward to having more discussions on other topics in Integrative Medicine with you throughout the year at Heartwood.