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Tens of millions of people in the U.S. are using complementary and alternative therapies in combination with other treatments to enhance their quality of life. In addition to this consumer use, there is also a growing demand for integrative healthcare practices coming from educational institutions, clinics, hospitals, and healthcare professionals.
Consider this: The L.A. Times recently reported that just a little "music therapy" worked to relax PTSD patients in the lobby of the L.A. Veterans Association Hospital (January 16, 2012). The article states that, "Doctors noticed improvement in many patients, especially those with PTSD or traumatic brain injury." But now imagine being able to facilitate patients, clients and staff with a fully personalized and situationally targeted complementary and alternative treatment program. This would include, for example, an entire regimen of whole person alternate therapies such as: music /sound therapy, guided meditation, imagery therapy, Qigong therapeutic movement, medical hypnosis, internal energy, acupuncture, nutritional counseling and other holistic treatments. Many of these therapies have been used for centuries. However, by fusing the best of Eastern and Western tradition and science, each can be delivered with greater precision and more sustained results. And it is this that I wish to encourage.
An influx of research-based results has continued to grow interest in these modalities. One only need scan the mountain of peer reviewed literature on the positive results of complementary/alternative healthcare appearing in bulletins, newsletters, webinars, magazines, and offered by educational symposiums. There are several reasons for this burgeoning interest, beginning with wide-spread demand from patients, clients, and healthcare practitioners as well.
Why Should You Pay Attention to Complementary Medical Treatment?
- Complementary and alternative therapies can be coordinated with conventional modalities to control, cure and prevent illness
- Complementary treatments are often low risk as opposed to other possible treatments
- Complementary treatments often have no bad side-effects; in fact they can be used to reduce the side-effects of conventional treatments
- Complementary services make the patient/client active in his or her treatment
- Patients/clients often find complementary treatment pleasurable
- Patients/clients may view these therapies more favorably, less invasive and less conflicting because they (patient/clients) are often involved in "doing something" to improve themselves rather than having something "done" to them."
- Complementary and alternative treatments emphasize returning patient/clients to a cycle of positive energy, which they usually enjoy and want to sustain
- Treatment results are always better when patients/clients are actively involved and feeling positive
- Many conventional treatments are less than 100% effective, so complementary treatments can be used to complement or, in some cases, even as takeover/replacement treatment when/if current treatments are legitimately not working
You Can Optimize the Mind-Body Connection
Integrative healthcare utilizes and treats the inseparable interactions of the mind, body and spirit. As such, it is a "whole person" paradigm, which can be used to help individuals manage health issues ranging from surgery rehab, cancer rehab, to sudden and long-term life-change management, anger, frustration, rumination, PTSD, energy imbalance, hormone imbalance, neurological and psychological disorders, addiction, emotional strengthening, nutrition, insomnia, anxiety, burn-out, mood swings, low attention and focus, weakened memory, dys-organization, poor communication, and more.
Everyone Benefits
Complementary and alternative healthcare works because it helps provide short and long-term empowerment as well as relief to everyone involved: hospitalized patients, out-patients, partners, families, and the entire healthcare team that is working in collaboration with the same/similar patients.
You Can Create Clinical and Educational Prototypes
Clinical and educational models and facilities can be created and set up in cooperation with complementary care practitioners to provide outreach, counseling, treatment sessions and educational programming about the clinical application of mind-body therapy for patients, clients, their partners and families, as well as other healthcare teams working in collaboration with the same or similar patients/clients.
- You can treat health issues and symptoms if already occurred, offering "small doses" or more intense relief, in a natural, high efficacy, no-side-effects way.
- You can also treat the "person," helping the individual see the relationship between his or her health, mind, and actions.
- And, at the highest level, you can (and the patient/client can learn to) treat the root-problem, strengthening and balancing the individual and identifying future problems before they become a problem so that they can be prevented before they emerge.
For these and other reasons, many practitioners, in-patients, out-patients, hospice patients, clients, and healthcare facilities are requesting more complementary healthcare. A colleague of mine once said, "Once you feel the positive results of whole person wellness, why would you want to live any other way?" Certainly not everyone will walk away with that kind of success, but many will. And these individuals may discover that they are able to reduce their medications under their physician's supervision, of course, or find that certain complementary treatments can work for them, again under their physician's supervision, as a stand-alone treatment.
The great benefit here is that patients/clients can engage in natural, no-side-effects, easy and enjoyable therapies that achieve results. They feel more in control. They feel more empowered to bring on their own relief and capable of transforming their own lives. This creates a powerful positive cycle that gets stronger and transfers to other daily life activities, processes, and outcomes. Once operating with an optimized, flowing mindset, patient/clients usually want nothing less-and look forward to more.
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