Holism and Holistic Medicine

When did it come about?

Although its idea goes back to antiquity, holistic medicine surfaced in the 1970s as an attempt to explain psychosomatic disorders.

Psychosomatic disorders are illnesses whose symptoms originate in a person's mind. Please don't make the mistake of discounting a person's suffering simply because it originates in her head, and - please try really hard on this one - do not dismiss her complaints by telling her "I's all in your head"! "You CAN get it out of your head if you only tried!", "Oh, just snap out of it!", etc.

The term holism was introduced to the world in 1926 by Jan Smuts, a South African statesman. He defined it as "the tendency in nature to form wholes that are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution".

Today it refers to the belief that every property of a biological, social, chemical, and mental system cannot be explained only by the sum of its parts.

Holism is found not only in medicine, but also in sociology, science, economics, anthropology, science, education.

Alternative medicine refers to various ways of treating disorders which are not found in the teachings of traditional medical training.

This quite possibly may be the reason why many alternative medicine proponents prefer to use the term "holistic health" over "holistic medicine", as they see negative, limiting connotations associated with the word "medicine" (justified in many cases, if I may say so...).

Chinese medicine, naturopathic medicine, and Reiki are a few of the better known examples of the holistic therapies used in alternative medicine.

I will briefly touch on the topics of holism in science and holistic health at a later date. We will also take a look at some specific examples of alternative medicine.

This page should give you quite a bit to think about. Just look around and see how popular these terms have grown, how much information and misinformation is out there, and then ask yourself why.

Ok, let me plant the seed in your head: Isn't it interesting how we keep looking at the ancient past to help us understand today?

Holism, holistic medicine and meditation

holistic medicine and reiki


"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."

(H. Ford)