Holistic medicine is alternative medicine.  It can be traced back over 5000 years to India and China.

Western interest began around 3000 years ago in Europe.  During the Dark Ages, there were two major components.  The Catholic Church encouraged physician practice and participation.  However, these physicians were only available to the nobles.  The peasants had healers.  These healers were the masters and they passed their trades to their apprentices.  It was a hard time for these healers as they were subject to “witch hunts” and their trade was abolished from the medical system.

In the nineteenth century, AMERICA experienced a Health Reform Movement.  Interest grew once again in the natural ways of healing, and herbalism and natural hygiene were central in the practice of alternative medicine.  Osteopathy, chiropractic and naturopathy were introduced at the turn of the century.  With the development of modern medicine, doctors had to turn to new means of education as the governmental controls were mandating education for doctors.  It is during the 20th century in America, that natural medicine was excluded from physician practice once again, as it was excluded from the medical schools.   Natural medicine regained popularity in the 1960’s.  Interest has grown so widely, that many physicians today hold degrees from western universities and eastern training.  Doctor of Eastern (DOM) medicine is becoming a common practice.

Today’s society embraces scores of various modalities of “holistic healers” that are not licensed physicians.  There are Certified Reflexologists, Yoga Instructors, Reiki Masters, Integrative Counselors, Chelation Therapists and Certified Rolfing specialists, just to name a few.