ALTERNATE THERAPY

The term "alternative therapy/medicine" is a catch-all phrase which includes therapeutic nutrition, chiropractic, homeopathy, structural and energetic therapies and mind-body interventions, traditional ethno medicinal systems such as Chinese medicine and Ayurveda which combine botanical medicine with other applications, other uses of non-Western and Western herbs, and various treatments which simply have not been accepted by the medical establishment. Alternative medicine has been variously called "natural," "complementary," "holistic," and numerous other terms which refer to elements of a particular modality or tradition. "Complementary" is the preferred term. The traditional ethno medicinal systems are by nature holistic, meaning that they aim to treat the whole individual, rather than a specific disease or symptom, and that they address not only the physical aspect of the patient but also mind and spirit. It is assumed that each individual possesses an innate healing capacity (the "immune system" in the broadest sense), and the goal generally is to reinforce this capacity and restore strength and balance to weakened systems using a variety of natural modalities: foods, herbs and other botanicals, body work, detoxification, etc., tailored as much as possible to the individual's specific constitution and condition.