| Since
the 1960’s, Americans have become increasingly familiar
with the terms alternative medicine and complementary medicine,
and have applied them to healing methods such as massage,
acupuncture, and nutrition therapy. However, mounting scientific
evidence on the safety and efficacy of such treatments has
led to the creation of a new term: integrative medicine,
or IM.
IM
combines mainstream medical therapies with non-conventional
complementary therapies. However, IM only uses complementary
therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific
evidence of safety and effectiveness. In short, IM utilizes
all appropriate, evidence-based therapies to achieve health.
This
common sense but scientifically rooted concept is catching
on with the American public, who now partner with their
family physicians to include evidence-based, non-conventional
treatments in their healthcare regimes. Practice of IM
has become so credible that the American Hospital Association
states that more than 16% of hospitals, including leading
medical facilities at Harvard, Mayo, and Duke, feature
IM centers as part of their institutions. Among hospitals
not currently offering IM, 24% stated that they planned
to do so in the future.
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What
is CAM?
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM),
as defined by the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), is a group of diverse medical
and health care systems, practices, and products that
are not presently considered to be part of conventional
medicine. While some scientific evidence exists regarding
some CAM therapies, for most there are key questions that
are yet to be answered through well-designed scientific
studies--questions such as whether these therapies are
safe and whether they work for the diseases or medical
conditions for which they are used.
The list of what is considered to be CAM
changes continually, as those therapies that are proven
to be safe and effective become adopted into conventional
health care and as new approaches to health care emerge.
Are
complementary medicine and alternative medicine different
from each other?
Yes, they are different.
Complementary medicine
is used together with conventional medicine. An example
of a complementary therapy is using aromatherapy to
help lessen a patient's discomfort following surgery.
Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional
medicine. An example of an alternative therapy is using
a special diet to treat cancer instead of undergoing
surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy that has been recommended
by a conventional doctor.
What is integrative
medicine?
Integrative medicine, as defined by
NCCAM, combines mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies
for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence
of safety and effectiveness.
Integrative Medicine
& Psychotherapy
Primary
care physicians often are taxed by patient complaints
that do not seem to have a clear etiology, nor do the
patients improve despite good medications and expensive
procedures. Current studies show that stress or distress
may have a significant effect on the onset, the course,
and the management of many, if not all, diseases. Understanding
a patient's underlying stress physiology and coping mechanisms
may enable physicians to better understand various clinical
disorders and treat their manifested symptoms.
Evidence
demonstrates that stress may exacerbate or cause illness
and that mind/body interventions can improve clinical
outcomes. Mind/body medicine is a scientifically-validated
medical discipline based on the biopsychosocial model
and the relaxation response Mind/body interventions, including
cognitive/behavioral therapy, relaxation response training,
lifestyle modifications addressing nutrition and exercise,
and coping strategies, have been applied successfully
to decrease the frequency and intensity of medical symptoms
and to improve disease management in patients with hypertension,
heart disease, chronic pain, insomnia, infertility, menopause
and a host of other conditions with a stress component.
I
offer wellness workshops, seminars, pre/post-op
assessment & therapy, and experiential groups
utilizing the following IM mind/body techniques:
Cognitive
Behavior Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that
emphasizes the substitution of desirable thinking patterns
for maladaptive ones.
Imagery
relies upon the patient’s imagination to enhance
or promote healing. The patient, often guided by a practitioner
or tapes, involves all of the senses (imagining sights,
sounds, tastes, smell, and kinesthetic bodily sensations)
to achieve specific health and life goals.
Meditation/Relaxation
can be traced back 3,000 years to Indian yogic practices
and is also found in Christian literature and Jewish
mystical traditions. It invokes a self-induced, qualitative
shift in the state of one’s consciousness, with
related changes in cognition and feelings that contribute
to an enhanced sense of physical and emotional well-being.
Music
Therapy uses music to both improve general well-being
and to meet the needs of those experiencing stress,
pain, communication difficulties, emotional trauma,
memory loss, and physical rehabilitation.
Professional
Counseling is related to the psychiatry branch of
medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of mental and emotional disorders.
Contemplative
Prayer is an act of communion with God, another
being or object of worship, and is practiced by a wide
variety of religions to promote spiritual, mental, and
physical wellness.
Referrals:
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Dr. John Gonino, D.O., P.A.
Gonino
Wellness Group
972.475.1500