What they do: Holistic physicians are medical doctors who practice some type of natural therapy, such as homeopathy, acupuncture, nutrition, or other specialty. Holistic physicians assume that all aspects of life create and comprise a total state of health. They analyze nutritional, emotional, environmental, spiritual, and life-style values of the client to treat the individual rather than the disease. The treatment usually consists of several procedures, each appropriate to a different aspect of the client’s life. The goal is to achieve a fuller, more unified sense of well-being. A holistic physician forms a cooperative relationship with the client and assists him or her in the process of self-healing. The client learns that self-responsibility for health plays an essential role in the healing process.
American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA)
4101 Lake Boone Trail
Suite 201
Raleigh, NC 27606
(919) 787-5181
What they do: The scope of a naturopathic doctor’s practice includes all aspects of family care from natural childbirth through geriatrics. Naturopathic doctors are licensed in a number of states and several Canadian provinces. These physicians are trained in natural medicine. Training involves four years of postgraduate study, including two years of medical sciences and a diversity of natural therapies. The therapies studied include herbal medicine, hydrotherapy and manipulation, with specialty areas of natural childbirth, homeopathy, and acupuncture.
The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP)
P.O. Box 20386
Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 323-7610
What they do: This discipline was begun by Andrew Still in the late 1800s to teach bone manipulation to promote natural healing. Osteopathy helps the body to stimulate and restore its own immune system and is very effective in treating many autoimmune disorders such as arthritis. These doctors use a system of healing that emphasizes realignment of the body through manipulation to correct faulty structure and function. They specialize in manipulating muscles and joints to treat problems. Doctors of osteopathy are fully trained and licensed according to the same standards as MDs and receive additional extensive training in the body’s structure and function.
American Osteopathic Association (AOA)
142 East Ontario Street
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280–5800
What they do: Doctors of chiropractic specialize in the manipulation and adjustment of the spinal column. This discipline was begun in 1895 by Daniel Palmer and is based on the theory of spinal subluxation to support natural health. Chiropractors analyze and correct vertebral spinal nerve interferences, which can be the result of physical trauma, interference during birth process, mental stress, faulty nutrition, or poor posture.
The American Chiropractor Association (ACA)
1701 Clarendon Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209
(703) 276-8800
What they do: Nutritionists use diet as therapy. They determine a patient’s individual nutritional requirements as well as whether he or she has food allergies. Nutritionists then provide specific dietary guidelines and food supplements, such as vitamins and minerals, to be taken at regular intervals over a long period of time in the maintenance of health and treatment of disease. Many common conditions can be treated effectively by dietary measures.
The American Dietetic Association (ADA)
216 West Jackson Boulevard
Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 899-0040
What they do: Homeopathy was begun in Germany by Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1845) and established as a major natural health-care force in the 1800s in America. It is a natural pharmaceutical science that utilizes substances from the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms and is based on the premise that these naturally occurring substances can cure disease symptoms similar to those they produce if taken in overdose. Each medicine is individually prescribed according to how it stimulates the immune and defense systems of the sick person. Sometimes it is called the “royal medicine.”
National Center for Homeopathy
801 North Fairfax Street
Suite 306
Alexandria, VA 22314
(704) 548–7790
What they do: Acupuncture is considered by the Chinese to be a form of health maintenance that stimulates the body’s ability to sustain and balance itself. It is based on the theory that an electromagnetic life-force is channeled in its continuous flow throughout the body by a network of “meridians.” Needles are inserted at specific points along the meridians to stimulate or disperse the flow of life-force in order to correct an imbalance. Acupuncture treatment does not employ a standardized system of correlations between particular diseases and techniques but treats each individual as unique.
American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine (AAAOM)
4101 Lake Boone Trail
Suite 201
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 787-5181
What they do: They use a technique of stretching and moving the connective tissue (fascia) in order to lengthen and balance the body along its natural vertical axis. Distortions of the connective tissue may be caused by reaction and compensation due to accidents, emotional tension, past traumas, or patterns of movement influenced by early childhood conditions. A complete treatment consists of ten sessions progressing from superficial areas of constriction to overall reorganization of larger body segments.
The Rolf Institute
P.O. Box 1868
Boulder, CO 80306
(800) 530-8875
What they do: Massage therapy has been used since the time of Hippocrates in the fourth century B.c. The basic philosophy of massage is to manipulate soft tissues to enhance the body’s tendency to heal itself. It consists of physical methods that include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding and moving parts of the body.
Associated Professional Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers (APMT)
1746 Cole Boulevard
Suite 225
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 674-8478
Second office:
P.O. Box 1869
Evergreen, CO 80439-1869
American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA)
1130 West North Shore Avenue
Chicago, IL 60626-4670
(312) 761-2682
What they do: Psychotherapists work with clients’ emotional makeup, as disturbed by childhood trauma and other causes. Some deal with such problems in relation to the mind-body connection. They are known as body psychotherapists.
Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP)
1772 Vallejo
Suite 3
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 346-7929
American Psychological Association
1200 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 955–7600
CG. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology
28 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
(212) 697-6430
International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis
144 East 36th Street
New York, NY 10016
(212) 532-7742
Institute of Core Energetics
115 East 23rd Street
12th floor
New York, NY 10010
(212) 505-6767
What they do: As explained in this book, healers work either by touching or by not touching the body to balance and charge the auric field. They channel healing energy into clients to bring about either full or partial healing to any part of the body.
National Federation of Spiritual Healers
1137 Silent Harbor
P.O. Box 2022
Mount Pleasant, SC 29465
(803) 849-1529
To find a healer, contact the Barbara Brennan School of Healing to receive a list of graduates.