A glossary of alternative medicine theraputic terms

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A Glossary Of Therapeutic Terms

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Acupressure: Based on the principles of acupuncture, this ancient Chinese technique involves the use of finger pressure (rather than needles) on specific points along the body to treat ailments such as tension and stress, aches and pains, menstrual cramps, or arthritis. The system is also used for general preventive health care.
Acupuncture: In acupuncture, fine needles are inserted at specific points to stimulate, disperse, and regulate the flow of chi, or vital energy, and restore a healthy energy balance. Often used in the United States for pain relief, acupuncture is also used to improve well-being and treat acute, chronic, and degenerative conditions in children and adults.

Aikido: Like other Japanese martial arts, aikido is both a method of self-defense and a spiritual discipline. The goal is to harmonize one's chi (vital energy) with that of one's opponent, so that the opponent's strength and weight are used against him or her. Many of the moves are flowing and graceful, similar to those of tai chi.

Alexander Technique: The Alexander Technique was developed by actor F. Matthias Alexander, who created the method after concluding that bad posture was responsible for his own chronic voice loss. Practitioners, using gentle hands-on guidance and verbal instruction, teach simple, efficient ways of moving as a means of improving balance, posture, and coordination and to relieve tension and pain.

AMMA Therapy ®: Founded and developed by Tina Sohn, this complex system of bodywork therapy utilizes traditional oriental medical principles for assessing and evaluating imbalances in the energetic system. AMMA Therapy aims to restore, promote, and maintain optimum health through the treatment of the physical body, the bio-energy, and the emotions, which reflect and are bound into the neuromuscular system. AMMA Therapy is used to treat a wide range of medical conditions.

Acupressure: Based on the principles of acupuncture, this ancient Chinese technique involves the use of finger pressure (rather than needles) on specific points along the body to treat ailments such as tension and stress, aches and pains, menstrual cramps, or arthritis. The system is also used for general preventive health care.

Acupuncture: In acupuncture, fine needles are inserted at specific points to stimulate, disperse, and regulate the flow of chi, or vital energy, and restore a healthy energy balance. Often used in the United States for pain relief, acu puncture is also used to improve well-being and treat acute, chronic, and degenerative conditions in children and adults.

Aikido: Like other Japanese martial arts, aikido is both a method of self-defense and a spiritual discipline. The goal is to harmonize one's chi (vital energy) with that of one's opponent, so that the opponent's strength and weight are used against him or her. Many of the moves are flowing and graceful, similar to those of tai chi.

Alexander Technique: The Alexander Technique was developed by actor F. Matthias Alexander, who created the method after concluding that bad posture was responsible for his own chronic voice loss. Practitioners, using gentle hands-on guidance and verbal instruction, teach simple, efficient ways of moving as a means of improving balance, posture, and coordination and to relieve tension and pain.

AMMA Therapy ®: Founded and developed by Tina Sohn, this complex system of bodywork therapy utilizes traditional oriental medical principles for assessing and evaluating imbalances in the energetic system. AMMA Therapy aims to restore, promote, and maintain optimum health through the treatment of the physical body, the bio-energy, and the emotions, which reflect and are bound into the neuromuscular system. AMMA Therapy is used to treat a wide range of medical conditions.

Anthroposophic Medicine: Developed by philosopher and mystic Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), this medical system takes into account the spiritual and physical components of illness. A treatment regime may include herbal and homeopathic medicines as well as dietary recommendations, art therapy, movement therapy, massage, and specially prepared baths.

Aromatherapy: Aromatherapy uses "essential oils" (the volatile oils distilled from plants) to treat emotional disorders such as stress and anxiety as well as a wide range of other ailments. Oils are massaged into the skin, inhaled, or placed in baths. Aromatherapy is often used in conjunction with massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, herbology, chiropractic, and other holistic treatments.

Astrology: Astrology is the study of the positions of the planets in the solar system and their possible influence on human affairs. Based on this information, a counselor can work with a client to provide individualized insights into emotional, professional, and health matters, or into the personality.

Ayurvedic Medicine: Practiced in India for more than 5,000 years, ayurvedic tradition holds that illness is a state of imbalance among the body's systems that can be detected through such diagnostic procedures as reading the pulse and observing the tongue. Nutrition counseling, massage, natural medications, meditation, and other modalities are used to address a broad spectrum of ailments, from allergies to AIDS. (Some practitioners in this category practice Maharishi Ayur-Ved, a contemporary interpretation of ayurvedic medicine inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation.)

Barbara Brennan Healing Science: Developed by physicist, teacher, and healer Barbara Brennan, this spiritual healing system seeks to reorganize and heal the client's energy field. Using both hands-on techniques and other approaches, the healer works to clear the client's field of unhealthy and blocked energies, charge depleted areas, repair distorted patterns, and balance the entire field. The goal is to promote health and healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.

Beauty/Skin Care: Natural products and treatments for hair, skin, and body.
Bioenergetics: Bioenergetics holds that repressed emotions and desires affect the body and psyche by creating chronic muscular tension and diminished vitality and energy. Through physical exercises, breathing techniques, verbal psychotherapy, or other forms of emotional-release work, the therapist attempts to loosen this "character armor" and restore natural well-being.

Biofeedback: A technique used especially for stress-related conditions such as asthma, migraines, insomnia, and high blood pressure, biofeedback is a way of monitoring minute metabolic changes in one's own body (e.g., temperature changes, heart rate, and muscle tension) with the aid of sensitive machines. By consciously visualizing, relaxing, or imagining while observing light, sound, or metered feedback, the client learns to make subtle adjustments to move toward a more balanced internal state.

Body- Mind Centering ®: Body-Mind Centering is a movement-reeducation approach that explores how the body's systems (skeletal, muscular, nervous, etc.) contribute to movement and self-awareness. The approach also emphasizes movement patterns that develop during infancy and childhood. Body-Mind Centering incorporates guided movement, exercise, imagery, and hands-on work. The approach can be used with infants, children, and adults to resolve movement problems and facilitate the "mind-body dialogue."

Body-Mind Counseling: This is a general term for a range of practices that combine bodywork with some form of verbal dialogueCounseling can suggest a less formally systematic approach than does the term psychotherapy, and can also encompass advice about diet or lifestyle issues.

Body- Oriented Psychotherapy: Body-oriented psychotherapy seeks to enhance the psychotherapeutic process by incorporating a range of massage, bodywork, and movement techniques. Acknowledging the mind- body link, practitioners may use light touch, soft- or deep-tissue manipulation, breathing techniques, movement, exercise, or body-awareness techniques to help address emotional issues.

Bodywork for Abuse Survivors: The massage therapists and bodyworkers listed in this category work with survivors of sexual abuse to assign new meaning to touch and develop healthy boundaries as part of their recovery process. This work is often done in direct collaboration with a psychotherapist.

Bodywork, Miscellaneous: Practitioners in this category offer a wide range of massage, bodywork, energy, and movement techniques.

Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy©: Developed by fitness expert Bonnie Prudden in 1976, this bodywork method is intended to relax muscle spasms, improve circulation, and alleviate pain. The practitioner, using elbows, knuckles, or fingers, applies pressure for several seconds to "trigger points"-- highly irritable spots on muscle tissue that may radiate pain to other areas. Clients also perform specific exercises for the freed muscles.

Breathwork: Breathwork is a general term for a variety of techniques that use patterned breathing to promote physical, mental, and/or spiritual well-being. Some techniques use the breath in a calm, peaceful way to induce relaxation or manage pain, while others use stronger breathing to stimulate emotions and emotional release.

Breema Bodywork: Breema Bodywork is an ancient, nondiagnostic health-improvement method that uses a series of gentle, rhythmic movements to release tension and to promote health, vitality, and inner harmony. Treatments are designed to create structural, physiological, emotional, and energetic balance in both the practitioner and the recipient. Breema Bodywork is done fully clothed, with the recipient lying or sitting on a carpeted floor.

Cancer Therapies: The practitioners listed under this category offer a range of therapies that aim to treat cancer or its symptoms. Due to the life-threatening nature of some cancers, these therapies are often used as complements to conventional approaches to cancer.

Career/Life Counseling: The practitioners listed in this category assist clients in career planning and/or personal planning and decision- making. Holistic counselors often use a "whole person" approach rather than a strictly vocational approach.

Chelation Therapy: Typically administered in an osteopathic or medical doctor's office, chelation therapy is a series of intravenous injections of the synthetic amino acid EDTA, designed to detoxify the body. It is often used to treat arterio sclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries."

Chi-Kung: [See Qi Gong (Chi-Kung)].

Chinese (Oriental) Medicine: Oriental medical practitioners are trained to use a variety of ancient and modern therapeutic methods-- including acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage, moxibustion (heat therapy), and nutritional and lifestyle counseling--to treat a broad range of both chronic and acute illnesses.

Chiropractic: The chiropractic system is based on the premise that the spine is literally the backbone of human health: Misalignments of the vertebrae caused by poor posture or trauma result in pressure on the spinal cord, which may lead to diminished function and illness. The chiropractor seeks to analyze and correct these misalignments through spinal manipulation or adjustment

Chiropractic, Network: (See Network Chiropractic.)

Colon Therapy: Colon therapy involves the cleansing of the large intestine with warm purified water. A single colonic treatment is said to be equivalent to several enemas in removing toxic debris from the colon.

Conscious BodyWork: This form of neuromuscular reprogramming and therapy combines massage techniques with muscle testing in order to help people learn how to use their muscles with greater strength and less effort. Conscious BodyWork is used to treat persistent Sistine joint and muscle pain and to treat restriction of movement caused by injury.

Core Energetics: Core Energetics is a form of body- oriented psychotherapy that aims to break down the client's defenses in order to reach the "core" level of consciousness, or spiritual self. By using bodywork and counseling techniques and offering spiritual guidance, the practitioner seeks to evoke cathartic reactions that open the way to "core energy." The goal of Core Energetics is to enable the client to become a more loving, creative, receptive, and vibrant person.

Corrective Parenting Psychotherapy: This form of group psychotherapy aims to help clients resolve past emotional trauma that may underlie current life problems. Practitioners support clients in directing toward the practitioners themselves feelings that were originally directed toward significant figures from childhood, and in working through those feelings. Techniques may include regression, role playing, psychodrama, contracting for behavioral change, and bodywork or movement.

Counseling, Miscellaneous: The practitioners in this section draw from a wide range of techniques to encourage healing and facilitate personal growth.

Counseling/Psychotherapy, Holistic: This broad category encompasses a range of practitioners, from career counselors who offer advice and information to psychotherapists who treat depression, stress, addiction, and emotional issues. Formats can vary from individual counseling to group therapy. In addition to verbal counseling techniques, some holistic therapists may use bodywork, ritual, energy healing, and other alternative modalities as part of their practice.

CranioSacral Therapy: CranioSacral Therapy is a manual therapeutic procedure for remedying distortions in the structure and function of the CranioSacral mechanism--the brain and spinal cord, the bones of the skull, the sacrum, and interconnected membranes. It is used to treat chronic pain, migraine headaches, TMJ, and a range of other conditions. The technique is performed by a range of licensed health practitioners.

Dance/Movement Therapies: Dance and/or movement therapy uses expressive movement as a therapeutic tool for both personal expression and psychological or emotional healing. Practitioners work with people with physical disabilities, addiction issues, sexual abuse histories, eating disorders, and other concerns.

Deep Tissue Bodywork: Deep tissue bodywork is a general term for a range of therapies that work to "unstick" the body's connective tissues and/or muscles to encourage them to function properly again. Among the conditions deep tissue bodywork treats are whiplash, low back and neck pain, and degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Dentistry, Holistic: Holistic dentists are licensed dentists who bring an interdisciplinary approach to their practice, often incorporating such methods as homeopathy, nutrition, and acupuncture into their treatment plans. Most holistic dentists emphasize wellness and preventive care while avoiding (and often recommending the removal of) silver-mercury fillings.

Ear Candling: Ear candling (also called ear coning) involves placing the narrow end of a specially designed hollow candle at the entry of the ear canal, while the opposite end is lit. Primarily used for wax buildup and related hearing problems, ear candling is also used for ear infections and sinus infections.

Energy Field Work: Practitioners of this range of therapies look for weaknesses in the person's "energy field" in and around the body and seek to restore its proper circulation and balance. Energy channeled through the practitioner is directed to strengthen the body's natural defenses and help the person's physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual state. Sessions may or may not involve the physical laying-on of hands.

Expressive Therapies: Expressive therapies use the arts to promote physical health, mental health, and/or personal growth. Examples of expressive therapies include art therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, poetry therapy, and psychodrama.

Fasting/Natural Hygiene: Natural Hygiene is a health system that seeks to remove the causes of disease and encourage the body's self- healing capacity through natural-food diets and therapeutic fasting. Professional Natural Hygienists are primary care doctors (m.d.s, osteopaths, chiropractors, and naturopaths) who specialize in fasting supervision as a part of natural hygienic care. Natural Hygiene is employed for a wide variety of acute and chronic conditions.

Feldenkrais® Method/Awareness Through Movement®: The Feldenkrais Method combines movement training, gentle touch, and verbal dialogue to help create freer, more-efficient movement. Feldenkrais takes two forms: In individual hands-on sessions ("Functional Integration"), the practitioner's touch is used to address the student's breathing and body alignment; and in a series of classes of slow, non aerobic motions ("Awareness Through Movement"), students "relearn" improved ways their bodies can move. The Method is frequently used to treat stress and tension, to prevent recurring injury, and to help athletes and others improve their balance and coordination.

Feng Shui: Feng shui (pronounced "fung shway") is the ancient Chinese practice of configuring home or work environments to promote health, happiness, and prosperity. Fang shun consultants may advise clients to make adjustments in their surroundings--from color selection to furniture placement--in order to promote a healthy flow of chi, or vital energy.

Flower Essences: Popularized in the '30s by Edward Bach, M.D., flower essences are intended to alleviate negative emotional states that may contribute to illness or hinder personal growth. Drops of a solution infused with the captured "essence" of a flower are placed under the tongue or in a beverage. The practitioner helps the client choose appropriate essences, focusing on the client's emotional state rather than on a particular physical condition.

Focusing: This self-help tool is based on the premise that information about one's life issues can be accessed through so-called felt senses in the body. This skill can be used alone or in partnership with someone else for resolving day-to-day issues (such as decision-making), negotiating profound changes (such as recovery from abuse), and fostering spiritual development.

Gestalt Therapy: This psychotherapy aims to help the client achieve wholeness (gestalt is the German word for "whole") by becoming fully aware of his or her feelings, perceptions, and behavior. The emphasis is on the "here and now" of immediate experience rather than on the past. Gestalt therapy is often conducted in group settings, such as weekend workshops.

Guided Imagery: Guided imagery involves using mental images to promote physical healing or changes in attitudes or behavior. Practitioners may lead clients through specific visualization exercises or offer instruction in using imagery as a self-help tool. Guided imagery is often used to alleviate stress and to treat stress-related conditions such as insomnia and high blood pressure. It is also used by people with cancer, AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other disorders with the aim of boosting the immune system.

Gyrotonics: Gyrotonics (also referred to as Gyrotonics Expansion System, or GXS) is an exercise system emphasizing circular motions similar to those used in swimming, tai chi, and yoga. The low-impact exercises are performed on specially designed exercise equipment, and the movements are accompanied by specific breathing patterns. Gyrotonics is used by dancers, athletes, and others to increase strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance, and it is also used as a form of physical therapy.

Healing Touch: Healing Touch is practiced by registered nurses and others to accelerate wound healing, relieve pain, promote relaxation, prevent illness, and ease the dying process. The practitioner uses light touch or works with his or her hands near the client's body in an effort to restore balance to the client's energy system.

Health Centers/Clinics: The inpatient and outpatient settings found in this category offer a variety of alternative and allopathic therapies to encourage wellness and treat disease. Some clinics operate under the auspices of hospitals.

Health Spas/Retreat Centers: Residential centers and travel opportunities offer a range of workshops, physical fitness programs, and natural therapies for rejuvenation and personal growth.

Heart Care: The practitioners listed in this category offer a range of therapies to prevent or treat heart disease. Due to the life- threatening nature of this ailment, these therapies are often used as complements to conventional approaches to heart disease.

Hellerwork: Developed by former aerospace engineer (and one-time Rolf Institute president) Joseph Heller, this technique combines systematic structural bodywork and movement reeducation with dialogue about the emotional issues that may underlie a physical posture. Participants go through eleven sixty- to ninety-minute sessions. Stressing the mind-body connection, Hellerwork is used to treat chronic pain or to help "well" people learn to live more comfortably in their bodies.
Herbalism: An ancient form of healing still widely used in much of the world, herbalism uses natural plants or plant-based substances to treat a range of illnesses and to enhance the functioning of the body's systems. Though herbalism is not a licensed professional modality in the United States, herbs are "prescribed" by a range of practitioners, from holistic M.D.'s to acupuncturists to naturopaths.

HIV Therapies: The practitioners listed under this category offer a range of therapies that aim to treat the human immunodeficiency virus, AIDS, or their symptoms. Due to the life-threatening nature of HIV and AIDS, these therapies are often used as complements to conventional approaches to HIV

Holistic Medicine: Holistic medicine is a broadly descriptive term for a healing philosophy that views a patient as a whole person, not as just a disease or a collection of symptoms. In the course of treatment, holistic medical practitioners may address a client's emotional and spiritual dimensions as well as the nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to an illness. Many holistic medical practitioners combine conventional forms of treatment (such as medication and surgery) with natural or alternative treatments.

Homeopathy: Homeopathy is a medical system that uses infinitesimal doses of natural substances--called remedies--to stimulate a person's immune and defense system. A remedy is individually chosen for a sick person based on its capacity to cause, if given in overdose, physical and psychological symptoms similar to those a patient is experiencing. Common conditions homeopathy addresses are infant and childhood diseases, infections, fatigue, allergies, and chronic illnesses such as arthritis.

Hypnotherapy: The term hypnotherapy refers to a range of techniques that allow practitioners to bypass the conscious mind and access the subconscious, where suppressed memories, repressed emotions, and forgotten events may remain recorded. Hypnosis may facilitate behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal change: Often used to help people lose weight or stop smoking, it's also used in the treatment of phobias, stress, and as an adjunct in the treatment of illnesses.

Infant Massage:(See Massage, Infant.)

Inner Child: In this form of psychotherapy, clients imagine their return to childhood experiences (traumatic or otherwise), with the goal of healing and resolving present psychological problems that may issue from the past.

Interactive Guided Imagery: Interactive Guided Imagery is a mind-body modality in which the practitioner helps clients explore their own unconscious imagery for therapeutic purposes, rather than merely having clients listen to predetermined imagery scripts. Interactive Guided Imagery is used for a variety of illnesses, stress management, anxiety disorders, depression, pain management, addiction recovery, and as part of brief psychotherapy and marital counseling.

Intuitive Arts: A general term for various methods of divination, such as numerology, psychic reading, and tarot reading. Individuals may consult practitioners to seek information about the future or insights into personal concerns or the personality. Among the modalities: Numerology emphasizes the significance of numbers derived from the spelling of names, birth dates, and other significant references; psychics may claim various abilities, from finding lost objects and persons to communicating with the spirits of the dead; and tarot readers interpret a deck of cards containing archetypal symbols.

Iridology: Iridology is a diagnostic system based on the premise that every organ has a corresponding location within the iris of the eye, which can serve as an indicator of the individual organ's health or disease. Iridology is used by naturopaths and other practitioners, particularly when diagnosis achieved through standard methods is unclear.

Jin Shin Do® Bodymind Acupressure®:. Developed by psychotherapist Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, Jin Shin Do combines Acupressure, Taoist yogic breathing methods, and Reichian segmental theory (which addresses how emotional tension affects the physical body), with the goal of releasing physical and emotional tension and "armoring." It aims to promote a pleasant trance state in which the participant can address the emotional factors that may underlie various physical conditions.

Jin Shin Jyutsu®: Jin Shin Jyutsu is an oriental system intended to harmonize the flow of energy through the body. The system holds that tension, fatigue, or illness can trap energy in the body's twenty-six "safety energy locks": Practitioners use their hands to restore balance and reduce stress. Jin Shin Jyutsu is not a form of massage, however, as it does not involve physical manipulation of the muscles.

Kinesiology/Applied Kinesiology: Kinesiology is the study of muscles and their movements. Applied kinesiology is a system that uses muscle testing procedures, in conjunction with standard methods of diagnosis, to gain information about a patient's overall state of health. Practitioners analyze muscle function, posture, gait, and other structural factors in addition to inquiring about lifestyle factors that may be contributing to a health- related problem. Nutritional supplements, muscle and joint manipulation, and lifestyle modification (including diet and exercise) may then be used as part of a treatment plan. Applied kinesiology is used by health-care providers who are licensed to diagnose, such as chiropractors, osteopaths, dentists, and medical doctors.

Kripalu Bodywork: Based on the principles of Kripalu Yoga, this bodywork method seeks to promote a deep state of relaxation and to help recipients reconnect with the healing wisdom of their bodies. Along with specific massage strokes, Kripalu bodyworkers use verbal and nonverbal means to guide recipients into a meditative state wherein physical and mental tension may be accessed and released.

Kripalu Yoga: Developed by Yogi Amrit Desai, Kripalu Yoga uses classical hatha yoga postures and breathing techniques to help students enter a state of "meditation in motion." Besides offering guidance in these yoga techniques, Kripalu Yoga teachers provide an atmosphere where sensations, thoughts, and emotions can be experienced in safety and relaxation. The principles of Kripalu Yoga are the foundation for Phoenix Rising yoga therapy and Kripalu Bodywork.

Lymphatic Therapies: The practitioners listed in this category use a range of therapies that seek to affect the body's lymphatic system, which is important to the effective functioning of the immune system.
Macrobiotic Counseling: Macrobiotic counselors assist people in making the transition to a low-fat, high-fiber "macrobiotic" diet of whole grains, vegetables, sea vegetables, and seeds. A diet of these natural foods, cooked in accordance with macrobiotic principles designed to synchronize our eating habits with the cycles of nature, is used to promote health and minimize disease.

Magnetic Therapy: Magnetic therapy (also known as magnetic field therapy or bio-magnetic therapy) involves the use of magnets, magnetic devices, or magnetic fields to treat a variety of physical and emotional conditions, including circulatory problems, certain forms of arthritis, chronic pain, sleep disorders, and stress. Treatments may be applied by a practitioner or as part of a self-care program.

Manual Lymph Drainage ®: Manual Lymph Drainage is a form of gentle, whole-body massage aimed at stimulating the lymphatic system to carry away excessive fluid in the loose connective tissue. This non invasive, painless therapy is intended for conditions such as acute and chronic edema (swelling), neuromuscular disorders, headaches, acne, and sinus congestion. Working under a physician's referral, certified therapists also treat post-mastectomy patients' pain, edema, and fibrosis.

Massage, Geriatric: The practitioners listed in this category use a variety of hands-on techniques to address health problems associated with aging.

Massage, Infant: Taught to new parents by trained instructors, infant massage practices are designed to enhance the bonding between parent and baby. As preventive therapy, infant massage can help strengthen and regulate a baby's respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal functions, often relieving gas and colic while relaxing both parent and child.

Massage, On-Site: These practitioners perform a range of bodywork techniques at the client's location, typically the workplace. Generally, the client remains fully clothed while sitting in a specially designed massage chair brought by the practitioner.

Massage, Pregnancy: The practitioners listed in this category use or teach a variety of bodywork techniques to relieve common complaints of pregnancy and to ease the labor process.

Massage, Swedish: The most commonly practiced form of massage in Western countries, Swedish massage integrates ancient oriental techniques with modern principles of anatomy and physiology. Practitioners rub, knead, pummel, brush, and tap the muscles. Swedish massage is widely practiced; thus, practitioners will range greatly in training, technique, and length of session.

Massage Therapy: This is a general term for a range of therapeutic approaches with roots in both Eastern and Western cultures. It involves the practice of kneading or otherwise manipulating a person's muscles and other soft tissue with the intent of improving a person's well-being or health.

Medical Specialties, Holistic: This general category includes such specialties as arthritis treatment, chemical dependency and addiction treatments, family medicine, holistic podiatry, integrative medicine, orthomolecular medicine, orthopedic medicine, and sports medicine.

Medicine, Holistic: Holistic medicine is a broadly descriptive term for a healing philosophy that views a patient as a whole person, not as just a disease or a collection of symptoms. In the course of treatment, holistic medical practitioners may address a client's emotional and spiritual dimensions as well as the nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to an illness. Many holistic medical practitioners combine conventional forms of treatment (such as medication and surgery) with natural or alternative treatments.

Meditation Teachers/Centers: Meditation is a general term for a wide range of practices that involve training one's attention or awareness so that body and mind can be brought into greater harmony. While some meditators may seek a mystical sense of oneness with a higher power or with the universe, others may seek to reduce stress or alleviate stress-related ailments such as anxiety and high blood pressure. Listings in this category include individual counselors as well as meditation centers and retreat centers.

Midwifery/Childbirth Support: Midwives provide education and support during pregnancy, assist the mother during labor and delivery, and provide follow-up care. Practitioners of childbirth support include childbirth educators, childbirth assistants, and doulas (women labor coaches who also provide postpartum home care). In some states midwives can attend home births or practice in birthing clinics in hospitals. Some midwives are also licensed to provide "well-women" gynecological care, including screening tests and birth control.
Muscular Therapy: This general term incorporates a range of bodywork methods and practices that have a therapeutic (not simply relaxing) intent. Practitioners stress client education and follow-up. Among the conditions muscular therapy addresses are chronic back pain, headaches, tension, and emotional illnesses.

Myofascial Release: This hands-on technique seeks to free the body from the grip of tight fascia, or connective tissue, thus restoring normal alignment and function and reducing pain. Using their hands, therapists apply mild, sustained pressure in order to gently stretch and soften the fascia. Myofascial Release is used to treat neck and back pain, headaches, recurring sports injuries, and scoliosis, among other conditions.

Natural Healing, Miscellaneous:. The practitioners listed under this category offer a wide range of holistic services.

Naturopathic Medicine: Naturopathic medicine, a primary health- care system emphasizing the curative power of nature, treats both acute and chronic illnesses in all age groups. Naturopathic physicians work to restore and support the body's own healing ability using a variety of modalities including nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathic medicine, and oriental medicine.

Network Chiropractic: Network chiropractic is a form of chiropractic that views the spine as a powerful "switchboard of consciousness." The method is based on the belief that spinal adjustment can serve to unify the physical, emotional, and mental body with a universal intelligence or consciousness.

Neuro- Linguistic Programming: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a set of techniques whose goal is to alter limiting patterns of thought, behavior, and language. In conversation, practitioners observe the client's language, eye movements, posture, breathing, and gestures in order to detect and then help change unconscious patterns linked to the client's emotional state.

Neuromuscular Therapy: Neuromuscular therapy emphasizes the role of the brain, spine, and nerves in muscular pain. One goal of the therapy is to relieve tender congested spots in muscle tissue and compressed nerves that may radiate pain to other areas of the body.
Nursing, Holistic: More a philosophy than a series of practices, holistic nursing is embraced by registered or licensed nurses who seek to care for the body, mind, and spirit of the patient. Some holistic nurses work in independent practices, offering primary and chronic care that incorporates a variety of alternative methods, from homeopathy to Therapeutic Touch.

Nutrition: Nutritionists offer counseling on a broad range of subjects ranging from vitamins and minerals to food allergies to weight loss.

Ohashiatsu®: Ohashiatsu is a system of physical techniques, exercise, and meditation used to relieve tension and fatigue and induce a state of harmony and peace. The practitioner first assesses a person's state by feeling the hara (the area below the navel). Then, using continuous and flowing movements, the practitioner presses and stretches the body's energy channels, working in unison with the person's breathing.

Option Institute's Option Process®: Developed at the Sheffield, Massachusetts, Option Institute and based on the books of Barry Neil Kaufman,
the Option Process comprises several educational and therapeutic tools and techniques that seek to promote happiness and self-acceptance. Practitioners use a non judgmental dialogue process to facilitate self-exploration, teach simple techniques that offer "shortcuts to happiness," guide clients through a whole-body meditative process, or work with physically or mentally challenged children and their parents.

Option Method: This personal growth method, which uses a question-and-answer dialogue process, seeks to help people identify and unravel their self-defeating and limiting beliefs in order to achieve happiness, well-being, and creative freedom. The method may be incorporated by teachers, psychotherapists, bodyworkers, and other professionals who deal with their clients' belief systems. It can be used in private sessions, groups or workshops, and as a self-help tool.

Ortho-Bionomy ®: Developed by a British osteopath, Ortho- Bionomy involves the use of non invasive, gentle touch along with dialogue and instruction in common movements such as walking, sitting, standing, and reaching. Practitioners may also sometimes work with the energy field surrounding the person. The goal of the work is the student's enhanced well-being and empowerment--rather than physical healing per se.

Osteopathic Medicine: Like M.D.'s, osteopathic physicians provide comprehensive medical care, including preventive medicine, diagnosis, surgery, prescription medications, and hospital referrals. In diagnosis and treatment, they pay particular attention to the joints, bones, muscles, and nerves and are specially trained in osteopathic manipulative treatment-- using their hands to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness.

Pain Management: Pain-management techniques cover a broad spectrum, from exercise and mental-health counseling to surgery and medication. Practitioners who offer methods of relieving or coping with chronic pain include medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists, psychologists, nurses, dietitians, acupuncturists, social workers, biofeedback therapists, myotherapists, rehab counselors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists.

Past- Life/Regression Therapies: Past-life therapy and regression therapy are based on the premise that many physical, mental, and emotional problems are extensions of unresolved problems from the past--whether from childhood traumas or from experiences in previous lifetimes. The practitioner uses hypnosis (or altered states of consciousness) and relaxation techniques to access the source of this "unfinished business," and helps clients to analyze, integrate, and release past traumas that are interfering with their current lives.

Pathwork®: Pathwork, a personal-growth process incorporating spirituality and psychology, encourages the individual to face and transform his or her "dark side" or shadow, with the goal of promoting integration, inner peace, and activation of the soul's greater consciousness. Through verbal dialogue, the practitioner assists the individual in the process of removing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual "blocks" often related to past traumas.

Pediatrics, Holistic: The practitioners listed in this category use a range of therapies to prevent or treat the health problems of infants and children.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy:(See Yoga Therapy, Phoenix Rising.)

Physical/Occupational Therapies: Physical therapy is concerned with health promotion, disability prevention, and promoting recovery from disabling conditions such as a bone fracture, head injury, or stroke. Therapists use massage, exercise, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and other methods to help the patient regain functional movement. Occupational therapists help similarly afflicted clients regain the skills needed to resume an independent, productive life.

Pilates® Method: The Pilates Method is a full-body exercise system that emphasizes body alignment and correct breathing. With the help of an instructor, clients perform strength, flexibility, and range-of-motion exercises on specially designed equipment. The Pilates Method may be performed by people of any age group or fitness level in order to improve their flexibility and range of motion, and people in physical therapy may use the method to aid in their recovery.

Polarity Therapy: Polarity Therapy asserts that balancing the flow of energy in the body is the underlying foundation of health. Practitioners use gentle touch and guidance in diet, exercise, and self-awareness to help clients balance their energy flow, thus supporting a return to health.

Psychiatry, Holistic: As with all psychiatrists, holistic psychiatrists are trained in medical school in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses. Psychiatrists who consider themselves "holistic" may also draw from a wide range of complementary modalities, including nutrition, homeopathy, energy healing, bodywork, and biofeedback.

Qi Gong (Chi-Kung): Qi gong (also referred to as chi-kung) is an ancient Chinese exercise system that aims to stimulate and balance the flow of qi (chi), or vital energy, along the acu-puncture meridians, or energy pathways. Qi gong is used to reduce stress, improve blood circulation, enhance immune function, and treat a variety of health conditions.

Rebirthing: Also known as conscious-connected breathing (or by some practitioners as vivation), Rebirthing is a technique in which the therapist guides clients though breathing exercises to help them re experience past memories-including birth-and to let go of emotional tensions long stored in the body.

Reconstructive Therapy/Prolotherapy: Reconstructive therapy (also known as sclerotherapy) uses injections of natural substances such as dextrose, glycerin, and phenol in order to stimulate the growth of connective tissue and thus strengthen weak or damaged joints, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. This therapy is used to treat degenerative arthritis, lower back pain, torn ligaments and cartilage, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other conditions.

Reflexology: Reflexology is based on the idea that specific points on the feet and hands correspond with organs and tissues throughout the body. With fingers and thumbs, the practitioner applies pressure to these points to treat a wide range of stress-related illnesses and ailments.

Reiki: Practitioners of this ancient Tibetan healing system use light hand placements to channel healing energies to the recipient. While practitioners may vary widely in technique and philosophy, Reiki is commonly used to treat emotional and mental distress as well as chronic and acute physical problems, and to assist the recipient in achieving spiritual focus and clarity.

Reiki Plus®: Developed by Reiki Master David Jarrell, Reiki Plus supplements traditional Reiki (see above) with Psycho-Therapeutic Reiki (in which hand placements on the head are used to tap into the collective unconscious), nutrition counseling, and other natural-healing techniques.

Robert Jaffe Advanced Energy Healing: Developed by a physician, this healing approach uses "heart-centered awareness," clairvoyant perception, and a variety of energetic healing techniques to identify, understand, and transform the energy patterns that are believed to cause disease. Advanced Energy Healing is used to treat physical disease, as well as emotional and spiritual disorders.

Rolfing®: Developed by biochemist Ida P. Rolf, this technique uses deep manipulation of the fascia (connective tissue) to restore the body's natural alignment, which may have become rigid through injury, emotional trauma, and inefficient movement habits. The process involves ten sessions, each focusing on a different part of the body.

Rosen Method: Developed by former physical therapist Marion Rosen, the Rosen Method combines gentle touch and verbal communication to evoke relaxation and self-awareness. Because the work can bring up buried feelings and memories, it is used as a tool for personal growth as well as pain relief.

Rubenfeld Synergy® Method: Developed by healer Ilana Rubenfeld, The Rubenfeld Synergy Method uses gentle touch, movement, verbal exchange, and imagination to access memories and emotions locked in the body. The approach integrates elements of the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, gestalt therapy, and hypnotherapy. Because it combines bodywork and psychotherapy, The Rubenfeld Synergy Method may be used for specific physical or emotional problems or for personal growth.

Sexual/Relationship Education: The practitioners listed under this category provide information and support regarding sexual and/or relationship issues.

SHEN© Therapy: SHEN Therapy (the acronym stands for "specific human energy nexus") seeks to release deeply embedded painful emotion through the use of light hand placements. The practitioner applies his or her energy flow to the client's clothed body, thus seeking to "unblock" the client's energy flow. SHEN Therapy is primarily used to treat some chronic pain syndromes, as well as physio-emotional disorders such as stress-related disorders (gastric problems and migraine headaches, for example) and general anxiety disorders (often associated with childhood sexual or physical abuse). SHEN Therapy is also known as SHEN Physio-Emotional Release Therapy.

Shiatsu: The most widely known form of acupressure, shiatsu has been used in Japan for more than 1,000 years to treat pain and illness and for general health maintenance. Using a series of techniques, practitioners apply rhythmic finger pressure at specific points on the body in order to stimulate chi, or vital energy.

Soma Neuromuscular Integration®: This bodywork method seeks to improve posture, joint function, and body alignment through deep manipulation of the muscular and connective tissue. The ten-session process, which incorporates movement training and other adjuncts, also seeks to promote greater access to the functioning of each hemisphere of the brain. People with conditions such as chronic back pain, arthritis, asthma, scoliosis, and headaches have sought relief from this method.

Spirit Releasement Therapy: Spirit Releasement Therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which the practitioner seeks to release any nonphysical entities (such as the spirit of a deceased person) that are "attached" to and interfering with the client. After using a variation of hypnotic induction to help the client attain an altered state of consciousness, the practitioner attempts to engage the entities in dialogue. Since some "attachments" are believed to be related to past-life events, the practitioner may also use the techniques of past-life therapy.

Spiritual/Shamanic Healing: Practitioners of both spiritual healing and shamanic healing often regard them selves as conductors of healing energy or sources from the spiritual realm. Both may call upon spiritual "helpers" such as power animals (characteristic of the shaman), angels, inner teachers, the client's higher self, or other spiritual forces. Both forms of healing can be used as part of treatment for a range of emotional and physical illnesses.

Sports Medicine: Sports medicine involves the prevention and treatment of injuries to athletes and other physically active people, as well as the use of exercise for recovery from nonsports injuries.

Stress Management: Stress management encompasses a range of modalities designed to treat the physical and emotional toll of stress. The approaches
used can include bodywork, meditation, counseling, energy work, and education.

Structural Integration: A systematic approach to relieving patterns of stress and impaired functioning, structural integration seeks to correct misalignments in the body created by gravity and physical and psychological trauma. As in Rolfing, in ten sessions the practitioner uses hands, arms, and elbows to apply pressure to the fascia, or connective tissue, while the client participates through directed breathing.
Tai Chi/Martial Arts: The martial arts are perhaps best known as means of self-defense, but they are also used to improve physical fitness and promote mental and spiritual development. The highly disciplined movements and forms are thought to unite body and mind and bring balance to the individual's life. "External" methods (such as karate and judo) stress endurance and muscular strength, while "internal" methods (such as tai chi and aikido) stress relaxation and control. Tai chi has been used as part of treatment for back problems, ulcers, and stress.

Therapeutic Touch: Popularized by nursing professor Dolores Krieger, Therapeutic Touch is practiced by registered nurses and others to relieve pain and stress. The Therapeutic Touch practitioner "assesses" where the person's energy field is weak or congested, and then uses his or her hands to direct energy into the field to balance it.

Therapy, Holistic: Practitioners listed here offer a range of treatments and services for healing both body and mind.

Touch For Health®: A self-help technique taught by instructors, Touch For Health is a system of balancing the body's energy by applying gentle pressure to contracted muscles and other points along the body. Regular balancing is used to improve overall health and strengthen resistance to common ailments and physical complaints

Trager® Bodywork: Developed by Milton Trager, M.D., this movement-education approach seeks to address the mental roots of muscle tension. By gently rocking, cradling, and moving the client's body, the practitioner encourages the client to see that physically restrictive patterns can be changed. Trager bodywork is meant to promote relaxation and increase mobility and mental clarity. It is used by athletes for performance enhancement, and by people with musculoskeletal and back problems.

Trigger Point/Myotherapy: Practitioners of this technique apply pressure to specific points on the body to relieve tension. Trigger points are tender, congested spots on muscle tissue that may radiate pain to other areas. Though the technique is similar to shiatsu or acupressure, this therapy uses Western anatomy and physiology as its basis.

Thai-Style Bodywork: Thai-style bodywork is a general term for a range of bodywork therapies that are indigenous to or derive from Thailand. Practitioners may use their hands, elbows, knees, and feet to exert pressure; gently rock the client's body or specific body parts; and lead the client in deep stretching and mindfulness techniques. The goal is to create energetic balance and wholeness of mind, body, and spirit in both the client and the practitioner.

Veterinary Medicine, Holistic: Practitioners of holistic veterinary medicine are typically licensed D.V.M.s who incorporate both conventional and holistic modalities in serving the well-being of their animal patients. Alternative treatments can include homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic and massage, clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, and more.
Vibrational Healing: Practitioners of vibrational healing (also called vibrational medicine) use a variety of modalities that seek to promote healing by balancing the client's energy field. Such modalities may include homeopathy, flower essences, acupuncture, and energy-based bodywork practices such as Therapeutic Touch and Polarity Therapy.

Vision Therapies, Holistic: Holistic vision therapies maintain that, through exercise and relaxation techniques, vision may actually be improved to the point that glasses may no longer be needed. Therapies are typically offered by licensed optometrists and opthalmologists.

Watsu (Water Shiatsu): Watsu, or water shiatsu, is a form of massage performed in chest-high body-temperature water. The practitioner guides the client through a series of dance like movements while using Zen shiatsu techniques (stretches and finger pressure) in order to release blockages in the body's meridians, or energy pathways. Watsu is used to release tension and to treat a wide variety of physical and emotional problems.

Women's Holistic Health: This field includes practitioners and clinics offering a range of services addressing women's health concerns, from PMS to infertility.

Yoga Instruction: Yoga instruction is a general term for a range of body-mind exercise practices used to access consciousness and encourage physical and mental well-being. Some forms concentrate on achieving perfection in posture and alignment of the body; others aim at mental control to access higher consciousness. Between these two forms are yogas that focus on the interrelationship of body, mind, and energy.

Yoga Therapy: Yoga therapy is an emerging field of practices that use
yoga to address mental and physical problems while integrating body and mind. Practitioners work one-on-one or in group settings, assisting clients with yoga postures, sometimes combined with therapeutic verbal dialogue.

Yoga Therapy, Phoenix Rising: Phoenix Rising is a form of yoga therapy designed to help clients achieve greater spiritual balance in their lives. A therapy session combines hands-on support in performing yoga postures with therapeutic dialogue techniques. Phoenix Rising is based on the principles of Kripalu Yoga.
Zero Balancing: Zero Balancing is a method for aligning body structure and body energy. Through touch akin to acupressure, the practitioner seeks to overcome imbalances in the body's "structure/energetic interface," which is said to exist beneath the level of conscious awareness. Zero Balancing is often used for stress reduction.

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