What is Integrative Medicine?
Integrative, or “to integrate,” comes from the Latin word integratus, meaning to “render something whole,” or “make whole.” Thus, Integrative Medicine begins by seeing each patient as a whole person – consisting of body, mind and spirit – and proceeds with the intention of getting all systems working well individually and collectively. Viewed in this light, health is much more than the absence of illness, and wellness is much more than just a state of physical health. At the Alliance Institute, we believe wellness encompasses emotional stability, clear thinking, the ability to love, create, embrace change, exercise intuition and experience a continuing sense of spirituality.
Integrative Medicine = Conventional Medicine + Alternative Therapies
In short, Integrative Medicine takes the best of conventional western medicine and blends it with the best alternative therapies. The term conventional medicine typically refers to the kind of medicine most Americans still encounter in hospitals and clinics, and includes either pharmaceutical drugs or surgery. Any therapy that is typically excluded by conventional medicine, and that patients use instead of conventional medicine, is known as alternative medicine. It is a broad term that includes hundreds of old and new practices ranging from acupuncture to chiropractic to energy healing. At the Alliance Institute, we use our decades of collective experience to focus on those therapies that have worked best for the thousands of patients we have treated.
This is where Integrative Medicine comes in. As defined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, integrative medicine "combines mainstream medical therapies and alternative, or complementary, therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness." Said another way, integrative medicine “integrates” the very best, scientifically validated therapies from both conventional and alternative medicine.
Ancient Wisdom and Modern Medicine
The Alliance subscribes to the ancient philosophy of medicine: there is no single cause for illness, and no singular cure, either. That is why we offer a unique combination of personalized therapies, from cutting edge diagnostics to conventional medicine to alternative treatments. It is also why we view our patients and practitioners as partners in the healing process.
