Ive Heard that Acupuncture is Wholistic. Whats that all about?
Holistic Medicine is a rather large area of study. Basically, it means treating a client, not as a collection of symptoms and body parts, but the whole person, body, emotions, mind, and spirit. Of these, only the body exists on the physical plane. It is said that the other aspects of a person exists at higher energetic planes. In TCM, one of the important aspects of diagnosis is to evaluate a client’s Shen or spirit. There are a few guidelines for evaluating ‘Shen’, but mainly it is an intuitive insight into how a particular client will respond to treatment. One may be said to have a strong Shen, and prognosis will be good. A weak ‘Shen’, means a poor prognosis. Emotions have long thought to be at the root of many diseases and conditions. In Chinese Medicine, the 5 cardinal emotions of Joy, Anger, Worry, Grief, and Fear are thought to be primary causes of diseases. Strengthening the Liver for example has the effect of reducing Anger, the Liver’s associated emotion. There are also Acupu
