Holistic therapy, also called integrative or complementary therapy, is a type of psychotherapy that uses multiple treatment modalities to help you heal and improve your mental health. So what is holistic therapy? In this article, we’ll cover everything from the definition of holistic therapy to its techniques and efficacy.
Key Takeaways
- The goal of holistic therapy is to give people more control over their health by helping them understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect their physical health.
- Holistic therapy aims to assist you in achieving wellness and balance in every aspect of your life.
- Holistic therapists believe people can heal themselves through natural methods and lifestyle changes.
- Depending on your personal preferences, various holistic therapies are available.
Here Are the Examples of Holistic Therapy
Holistic therapies focus on the whole person, addressing health’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Holistic therapists believe that when one area of being is out of balance, it can affect all other aspects of life, including physical health. Thus, holistic therapists try to restore balance through treatments that promote overall wellness.
The following are examples and different types of holistic therapy treatments:
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
This form of mindfulness-based therapy teaches patients how to become aware of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations to change their reactions to negative thoughts and emotions. For example, suppose someone is feeling anxious about an upcoming event.
In that case, they can practice becoming aware of what they’re thinking about it to see if it’s realistic or not. As well as noticing all the other feelings experienced during this time — like physical tension or anger — so they can make better decisions about how they react to situations like this in the future.
Acupuncture
This traditional Chinese practice involves inserting hair-thin needles into specific points on your body to promote energy flow along meridians. Stress makes these blocks run through your body and can become blocked or imbalanced. Acupuncture is often used to treat pain and reduce inflammation and is thought to help manage stress levels.
Yoga
Yoga combines physical postures with breathing exercises to improve flexibility and strength while increasing mindfulness. Yoga helps reduce stress levels and promote relaxation, improving overall physical health through deep stretching of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Massage
Massage therapy involves applying pressure to muscles to relieve pain and improve muscle circulation and flexibility. Massage is often used as part of other holistic therapies to treat illness or injury because it increases blood flow to injured areas and promotes relaxation and healing.
Aromatherapy
This therapy uses essential oils extracted from plants for their healing properties. For example, lavender oil helps with anxiety disorders or insomnia to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Chiropractic
When bones get misaligned in your spine, they can put pressure on nerves going to other parts of the body, which can cause pain or illness elsewhere in the body. Chiropractors use gentle manipulations of your spine to relieve this pressure so nerves can properly send messages throughout your body.
Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM)
These alternative therapies include acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, homeopathy, and naturopathy, which aren’t part of the standard Western medical model. Many holistic health practitioners use CAM and traditional medicine because they believe these therapies complement each other.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
EFT is an alternative medicine technique that involves tapping your body’s meridian points to relieve stress and promote healing from physical or emotional trauma. EFT has been found effective for treating various conditions, including PTSD and anxiety disorders, as well as physical conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome
Meditation
Research on meditation shows it can positively affect our moods and stress levels. It also helps us become more aware of our thoughts and feelings to manage them more effectively.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy involves exposing yourself to whatever you fear most to make it less frightening over time. It might include facing your fear head-on (for example, by going on a rollercoaster) or imagining you’re in a situation where you’re scared (for example, by writing down what you suppose would happen if someone shouted at you).
What Are Holistic Techniques?
Holistic therapies are therapeutic approaches that focus on the whole person and employ techniques such as massage, yoga, meditation, and others.
Holistic medicine is a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that seeks to treat the “whole person” through various alternative medicine practices, including herbalism, homeopathy, naturopathy, and more. They often involve diet, lifestyle changes, and exercise.
While some holistic practitioners may incorporate aspects of conventional medicine into their treatments, it’s used in conjunction with more traditional forms of healthcare.
Holistic medical practitioners often claim that conventional medical treatments are ineffective because they do not consider the whole person. For example, a patient who has experienced chronic pain may choose to see a holistic practitioner rather than undergo surgery or take prescription medications. Holistic practitioners believe that physical ailments are caused by mental or emotional distress and vice versa.
The goal of holistic therapy is to treat the mind, body, and spirit as one entity rather than treating each separately, as many conventional medical practitioners do today. For example, suppose you suffer chronic back pain from an accident or injury. In that case, your holistic practitioner may recommend acupuncture or chiropractic adjustments and yoga classes for stress relief and better sleep habits.
What Does a Holistic Psychologist Do?
A holistic psychologist is a type of psychologist who believes that the mind and body are interconnected. They feel physical conditions can affect their mental state and vice versa. A holistic therapist will look at the whole person when treating them for any mental health issue or illness.
Holistic therapy works on treating the whole person rather than just one aspect of their life. This type of therapy usually involves looking at physical and mental issues to help people improve their overall well-being.
A holistic approach is also known as integrative therapy, which combines different types of treatment into one service.
Who Can Benefit From Holistic Psychotherapy?
People with all types of health conditions can use holistic therapies. For example, they may be used by someone struggling with chronic pain or other physical health issues. They may also be used by someone dealing with anxiety or depression.
One element that sets holistic therapy apart from other types of treatment is that it focuses on the whole person — not just their specific diagnosis or condition. For example, if you’re in pain due to arthritis, holistic therapy may help you cope with your situation and improve your overall well-being so that you can live more comfortably.
Holistic approaches can also significantly help people who suffer from a wide range of conditions, including:
- Anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder
- Depression and mental health symptoms
- Chronic pain
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
- Insomnia
- Acute or chronic infections
FAQs
Is Holistic Therapy Good?
Yes, holistic therapy is good. The wellness practices seek to treat the mind, body, and spirit together. It also considers environmental and genetic factors that can affect your health.
Does Holistic Therapy Have Any Side Effects?
There are no side effects from holistic therapy. It uses natural methods to heal your body and mind. Licensed therapists understand their art when treating patients, so there is no need for any medical intervention or drugs.
Can I Get Holistic Therapy at Home?
Yes, you can get holistic therapy at home. There are many online stores like Amazon where you can buy all the products required for holistic treatment. You need not go to the market for each product separately. All these products can be purchased online at one place and delivered to your doorstep within a few days after placing an order.
Does Holistic Therapy Have Any Side Effects?
Holistic therapy does not have side effects. It is a safe alternative for chronic pain and other illnesses. If you suffer from severe health conditions or an injury, consult your doctor before starting any treatment.
A Perfect Solution
Holistic therapy combines all therapies in the world. It is a way of life, and it is a way of healing that results in holistic health outcomes. When you go for holistic treatment, you will find that it positively affects your body and mind, and you will get rid of all negative thoughts from your mind.