Why I practice Integrative Medicine

Integrative Medicine (IM) is simply a name that describes a changing paradigm in the practice of medicine today. The one common pathway that many therapies share is that the body does the healing. Practitioners can only take credit for “helping” the body to heal but not doing the magic itself. I have learned, through the IM perspective, that medicine is not “one size fits all”. It truly must be tailored to the individual. We cannot address one symptom without affecting the whole body.

Dr. Andrew Weil described Integrative Medicine as such:

“[Integrative Medicine] is trying to restore the focus of medicine on health and healing and away from disease symptom management. It emphasizes whole person medicine; meaning that we’re more than just physical bodies. We’re minds, spirits, [and] community members. It looks at all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the importance of the practitioner/patient relationship to the healing practice and then it’s willing to look at all methods from whatever tradition they come from that may be of value in treating disease.”

By practicing this perspective, I do not accept blindly any and all approaches to treatment. Some therapies can be helpful, some low risk, and others harmful to implement. Integrative Medicine allows me to critically look at the methods of treatment, work with colleagues from many other disciplines in healing, and along with the needs and collaboration of the patient, utilize the best of both worlds in traditional and non-traditional medicine.