What Is Alternative Medicine?
Alternative medicine is becoming increasingly popular, but what exactly is it?
Many therapists don’t like the term ‘alternative medicine’ because they feel it suggests an antagonism to allopathic medicine that they do not feel. So they prefer to call themselves complementary therapists. Alternative medicine is sometimes known as CAM, which stands for complementary and alternative medicine.
There are many different types of complementary and alternative therapists, e.g. kinesiologists, reiki practitioners, Bowen therapists, etc. and the procedures and techniques they use can differ considerably, but they all share some beliefs in common.
One of the fundamental beliefs is that they are working holistically looking at the whole person rather than at a particular symptom. So, for example, homeopaths would ask you about your symptoms, but would also ask you if you like salty food, or are better in the fresh air. This is because there isn’t a homeopathic remedy for a given symptom or illness, but there are several that might apply. The exact one is determined by taking detailed information and knowing more about the client’s personality and characteristics. Health kinesiologists do not have specific procedures for a given illness, but determine what to do based on muscle testing.
Therapists believe that the body can be helped to help itself, so that any intervention should work with the body’s natural desire to heal rather than imposing on it. Bowen therapists make minute gentle movements on the physical body and then wait for the body to process these and move forward.
Therapists also see symptoms as a way of the body (or energy system) highlighting that there is something wrong. Most therapists believe that fixing symptoms without looking deeper is storing up trouble in the long run – it is shooting the messenger rather than listening to the messenger. So, to lower a fever or stop diarrhoea is not necessarily an appropriate thing to do without knowing what is going on underneath. It may appear to solve the immediate problem, but can set up problems long term.
Practitioners see the physical body and the emotions and spirit as being inextricably interlinked. Some practitioners concentrate on the physical body more, whereas others concentrate on the emotional or spiritual aspects of the client, but behind it all is an understanding that we are multi-layered beings.