Holistic Psychotherapy Defined

March 10th, 2010
By Michael N. Schneider, Psy.D., Holistic Psychotherapy Topic Expert Contributor

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I am thinking that a good place to start with my initial article on Holistic Psychotherapy is to define this term or label. Just what does “Holistic Psychotherapy” mean?

Let’s begin with psychotherapy. The word is derived from two Greek words: psyche which refers to the soul or the spirit and therapeia which means to care for or to cure. So, quite literally, psychotherapy is an endeavor that involves caring for the soul with the ultimate aim of alleviating suffering. Of course, within this definition, many different theoretical and applied approaches to psychotherapy have been developed such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, etc. In the end, all of these approaches can be said to have the same goal involving relief from pain of the psyche with psyche in more modern terms referring to the workings of the mind.

As for the word “holistic”, we can also first examine the word’s etymological roots to attain a definition. Holistic relates to the word holism, which in Greek is holos meaning the total or entirety, and a fundamental aspect of this definition is that the whole of a given system is greater than the sum of its parts. Applying this to a person’s health, a holistic perspective posits that symptoms or dysfunction can only be comprehended by examining all aspects of the person (physiologically; psychologically; spiritually; socio-culturally; environmentally; etc.) and by appreciating ways in which these aspects work in a synergistic fashion. This is in contrast to a more reductionist perspective of health which focuses on understanding problems by looking for the malfunctioning part or parts that are producing the symptom.

So, when we bring these two words together Holistic Psychotherapy can then be defined as an approach to caring for the psyche that involves a focus on comprehending the synergistic relationship of the multiple aspects of a person’s existence. Doesn’t seem so radical, does it? From this definition, a psychotherapist with just about any kind of approach to care could be operating holistically. What’s more, I find that this is increasingly true for most psychotherapists regardless of theoretical orientation.

So, then why does it seem that the term Holistic Psychotherapy has such an avant garde connotation? I would suggest that there are at least two primary reasons. First, reductionism (the opposite of holism) provides the basis for the natural sciences, and the natural sciences continue to hold significant sway over truth making in our culture. In other words, making sense of the ways things work in our culture, particularly in medicine, continues to be the domain of the natural sciences, and holistic or systemic perspectives remain peripheral in that domain. And second, Holistic Psychotherapy for better or for worse (and directly related to its place outside of the mainstream of the natural sciences) has become firmly aligned with alternative or complementary health care. The combination of these two factors, I believe, has resulted in holistic health care in general becoming the place where any and all alternatives reside to more reductionist approaches to health care.

So, as I reach the end of this article, I believe that I have arrived at a point where many people, health care practitioners and laypeople alike, wind up with regard to holistic health care. The basic idea of approaching health holistically just makes good sense. Most everyone can relate to a basic experience such as knowing that being in certain environments produces different degrees of stress and that the impact of that stress has an impact both psychologically and physiologically. From that point though, where do you go? Many become uncomfortable and/or confused with the options in the world of holistic health care, including holistic psychotherapy, and finding guidance in this regard can be challenging.

A primary goal for the articles that I will be writing will be to provide insight into the possibilities with regard to approaching psychotherapy holistically so that you, the consumer, can make more educated choices. Next up: are all alternative approaches to psychotherapy necessarily holistic?

 

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©Copyright 2010 by Michael N. Schneider, Psy.D., therapist in Franklin Park, PA. All Rights Reserved.

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