Glossary of Complementary Medicine

Below is a Glossary of some of the many disciplines within Complementary Medicine:-

ACUPRESSURE
Using the Acupuncture points, pressure from the fingers is applied where appropriate.

ACUPUNCTURE
Fine needles are inserted into the body at meridians or energy centres. This 'unblocks' or regulates the CHI energy circulating the body, which in turn, stimulates the healing process. There is a mass of Chinese research but Western science does not yet accept the principle.

ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
F.M.Alexander (1896-1955) was an Australian actor who lost his voice. He realigned his posture and found the voice returned. The Technique is to persuade the body to return to its normal position and so allow the brain to recognise and retain the realignment. The head and neck positioning are particularly important.

AMATSU MEDICINE
A 5000 year old natural Japanese system of Holistic Medicine using gentle physical therapy, soft tissue manipulation encouraging re-alignment of the spine or joints.

AQUA TOUCH
A whole body treatment given in water which has been developed by Patricia Morrell. See also Reflex Touch.

AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE
The ear has a number of meridian points and can be used to effect the whole body. There has been some research using this method of treatment for drug addiction.

AYURVEDA
Ancient Indian system of medicine of preventative medicine and treatments which includes diet, yoga and meditation.

BACH FLOWERS
These formulae were developed by Dr Bach as an offshoot of homoeopathic medicine. The usefulness of this lies in the way the remedies can be effective treatment of mood swings and emotional conditions. The remedy for shock and other upsets is considered particularly helpful.

BATES METHOD
Exercises to improve muscle control of the eyes which were developed by Dr William Bates in the USA. The treatment follows the naturopathic idea of stimulating blood flow by the use of warm or cold water baths but, in this case, the eyes are splashed alternatively.

BIODYNAMIC MASSAGE
In common with all Complementary Medical treatments, the vital force is perceived to affect all the organs of the body. The link between the psyche and the physical was further developed by Gerda Boyesen in the Norwegian hospital service in the late 1960s. where she used massage to remove emotional trauma from organs of the body. She claimed to detect the variations in health by monitoring the fluid sounds through her stethoscope.

BIO-ENERGY THERAPY
Practitioners use the enhanced sensitivity of their hands to identify where energy is flowing and where it may be blocked. They then work to release any blockages and restore flow to the bio-energy field. This allows the body to kick start itself back to health.

BOWAN THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
Light touch used in certain sequences appears to release energy blockages. Probably based on the Chinese concept of CHI, Chapman's reflexes and other healing techniques, this system is being shown to work although it is not yet fully understood.

CHELATION THERAPY
Cardiovascular treatment which uses ethylene diamine tetra acid (EDTA) as part of a naturopathic programme to help the removal blocked arteries.

CHIROPRACTIC
Manipulation of the spine and movement of the extremities attributed to D.D. Palmer about 1890. Chiropractors vary in their approach. Some give extended massage before treatment whilst others do not.

MACTIMONEY CHIROPRACTIC
The MacTimoney method is more subtle and is claimed to induce the natural healing process.

CHINESE MEDICINE
Has much in common with other Eastern systems and is the foundation of many techniques currently used in the West. Provides a comprehensive range of treatments for problems arising from imbalances at physical, mental, emotional and spiritual parts of the consciousness.

COLONIC HYDROTHERAPY
Warm water is pumped into the colon and the residues of fecal matter and other deposits can be cleared. The central point is that poisons and fecal matter are flushed out and replaced with beneficial bacteria. Best used in conjunction with nutritional advice.

COLOUR THERAPY
The benefits of coloured light on the skin is well known and the colour practitioner will diagnose and provide the appropriate coloured light to help bring back health and well-being.

There are other systems such as:

Detecting the colours in the energy field of the individual and providing the tints which will help achieve a return to the normal. This is often practised by healers with the gift of extended perception either by sight or touch.

Colour can be used in the choice of clothing and furnishing since they affect the mood and attitude of mind.

COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
Humanistic, Jungian/Transpersonal or Integrative counselling/psychotherapy will usually be most compatible with a holistic approach to whole-person care. These approaches may include creative work in or between sessions such as keeping a dream journal, drawing, writing and other forms of self-help.The ICNM/BRCP also has a Healer-Counsellor Division of Practitioners trained and qualified in both disciplines as an integrated practise.

CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY
Developed by Dr William Sutherland in the 1930's, as an extension of the ancient Chinese Tuina and Osteopathic techniques. The process appears to rely on the practitioner's healing energies directed into the head and neck. Practitioners claim to feel a slight movement in the bones of the skull which sceptics claim is not possible.

CRYSTAL HEALING
Crystals transmit energy which are claimed to be able to tune to the bodies fluctuating vibrations. Crystals are chosen according to their energy and the needs of the patient.

CANDLES
Sometimes used to attempt to extract ear wax but this is not recommended

DOLPHIN THERAPY
Swimming with dolphins has shown that many patients have improved their quality of life and regained their physical energies.

FELDENKRAIS
Enables the person to recognise the relationship between different areas of the body and breakdown any unhelpful movement patterns which are causing distress. Moshe Feldenkrais was an Israeli judo expert who devised the sequences of movement.

FLOTATION
Floating in water in a darkened pool amount to sensory deprivation and this can trigger healing. The support of the water, which often contains Epsom salts, can rest injuries and help the patient to achieve good balance between the left and right cortex of the brain.

GEOPATHIC STRESS
The concept of energy patterns, which are created by the Earth, that can adversely affect the human body. Treatment is to move away from the offending energy pathways.

GERSON THERAPY
Dr Max Gerson devised this nutritional regime for cancer and other health conditions. The programme aims to re-energise the body's own immune response.

HEALING
The term healing is generally used in two specific ways:
1. To describe the natural ability within psyche-soma to rebalance and heal itself as a homoeostatic (innate) process of repair.
2. To define the channelling of healing energy in and around the person coming for healing, often described as Light energy and sometimes including colour healing. This form of healing may help in recovery from illness, in support of the immune system, and to aid the healing process as a whole.
The National Federation of Spiritual Healers (www.nfsh.org.uk) will give further definition to this term and how it is practised, together with a national Register of Members and healing clinics.
The BRCP also has a Healer-Counsellor Division of Registered Practitioners, available on request.

HELLERWORK
Joseph Heller used deep tissue massage together with psychotherapy and postural re-alignment. A pupil of Dr Ida Rolf (Rolfing), Heller broke away from Rolfing because his technique also used counselling.

HERBAL MEDICINE
Herbs are used in both Eastern and Western medicine. The aim is to use all parts of the herb and particular emphasis in laid on the energetic content of the herbs and its ability to stimulate healing.

Thus the method of picking the herb and the time of day can affect the potency. The whole herb has a wider healing potential than the single active agent used by the pharmaceutical industry.

HOLISM
Generally regarded as a word from HOLOS - Greek for whole. In Complementary Medicine the whole is seen as more than the sum of the parts and describes treatments which are focussed on the physical, mental, emotions, vital force, Spirit and Soul.

HOMOEOPTHY
Hippocrates and Samual Hahnemann (1796) are credited with using the homoeopathic principle. This means treating the vital force to enable the body to re-energise it own repair mechanisms. The Homoeopathic remedy does not treat the presenting symptom but the body's ability to heal itself with the result that prescriptions for the same named disease will probably be different in each case.

HYDROTHERAPY
Bathing in water has been used throughout history but the mineral baths which were opened during the nineteenth century in the UK and Europe claimed the most successful treatments.

HYPNOTHERAPY
This is not just hypnosis but a partnership between practitioner and patient which aims at defining the cause of the problem thereby helping the patient to overcome it in their own way and a time scale of their choice.

IRIDOLOGY
Diagnosis from the iris of the eye which are the exposed nerve endings which are seen as the coloured area. There is little reliable research but qualified practitioners appear able to make a significant contribution to helping the patient to understand those parts of the body which need attention.

KINESIOLOGY
The use of testing muscle strength to find products which disturb the patient's well-being. Can be used to find which foods are most conducive to health and those which may cause unwanted symptoms. It is also used to find the appropriate natural medicine such as a homoeopathic remedy.

KOSMED
The Kosmed is the Russian trade name for an instrument which can be used to assess lowered energy levels or 'blockages' of parts of an energy pathway in the human body. The instrument will then transmit the appropriate energy to bring back balance and so allow the life energy to flow again. Can be used to reduce pain.

MASSAGE
See Swedish Massage and Sports Massage

MANIPULATIVE MEDICINE
Based on massage techniques and structural manipulation.

When used in the ancient Chinese way, the whole emphasis is on gentleness and encouraging the muscles to relax before attempting to help to re-align the bones. Attempting to make adjustments before this relaxation has been completed can result in considerable pain and the change may well not be permanent. In these cases, many treatments will be required which is not the case when the preliminary work is correctly completed.

MUSIC THERAPY
Sound and music produce vibrations and these can have marked effects on the healing process.

NATUROPATHY
The Naturopath will have many different treatments to offer but all are based on the concept that the body will heal itself if given the right stimulus.

NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING
Looks at behavioural traits and bad habits. Treatment provides the patient with verbal instructions to reverse the trends.

NUTRITIONAL THERAPY
The diet can have dramatic influences on our health and well being. If we recognise that the body chemistry of each person is different, the need for different diets is apparent.

ORTHOMOLECULAR THERAPY
Developed by Nobel Prize Winner Linus Pauling who postulated that provided one has the correct level of vitamin, mineral and nutritional input, the body can overcome disease.

OSTEOPATHY
Structure governs function is the tenet of osteopathy. Andrew Taylor Still is given credit for initiating the system at the end of the American Civil War but there is much in common with Chiropractic and the Eastern techniques of ensuring that the skeleton is in correct alignment so that nerves are not pinched.

OXYGEN THERAPY
Forms of oxygen (ozone) have been used in many contexts from water purification to a disinfectant in the bottling industry. As a treatment, it has been recognised that harmful bacteria and viruses can only live in a low oxygen environment. Treatments vary from sitting in a 'steam' bath and being surrounded by ozone to treating the blood by passing ozone through it and clearing impurities. Dr Otto Warburg proved that cancer cannot live in a high oxygen environment.

PILATES
Specific exercises to correct the posture first developed by Joseph Pilates in the USA. Now available in the UK.

POLARITY THERAPY
Healing system having much on common with ayurveda. Developed in Austria by Randolph Stone in the 1920s, the idea is that parts of the body have a positive charge whilst others are negatively charged. Treatments consist bring the body into 'balance' by using counselling, healing, exercise and nutrition.

PRANIC HEALING
Prana is the Sanskrit word for 'life force'. The traditional healer interacts with the patient's aura or energy field to allow and interaction of healing energy to take place.

QI GONG
Part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Means energy practice and involves the transmission of the healing energy into the patient.

RADIONICS
Dr Albert Abrams and Ruth Drown were among those who developed Radionics on the premise that disease produces its own unique energy vibration. The Radionic instrument is used to focus the healers mind on the relevant vibration so that healing can be transmitted.

REFLEXOLOGY
The principle is that all the organs in the body are reflected on the foot or hand. By pressing the relevant point, healing can be transferred to the particular area in need. Original practitioners thought that crystal of lactic acid which caused sensitivity must be crushed to enable healing to take place. The pain was often considerable and this process has been superseded with more gentle methods.

REFLEX TOUCH
This is a development associated with Patricia Morrell who achieved success with her methods of diagnosis and light touch (Morrell Reflexology) which have been further refined.

REIKI
A Japanese healing discipline developed by Mikao Usui. The principles are similar to most other healing techniques except that the system follows a pre-determined set of hand positions which form the basis for each treatment. The system replies on the development of the students ability to transfer the healing energy and this may take considerable time. Some courses offer a mastership in three weekends.

ROLFING
Dr Ida Rolfe developed this treatment which considered that muscles had a 'memory' which could cause problems unless controlled by the patient. The Rolfer works on connective tissue of the myofascial system to break down tension and create a better balanced body. The system can be painful.

SHIATSU
A Japanese system similar to acupuncture without the needles. The practitioner may use elbows, feet, knees and fingers to transfer the QI or vital energy to balance the whole body of the patient.

SPORTS MASSAGE
Particular treatments aimed at maintaining the strength and muscle power of the sports person. Emphasis is usually on prevention.

SWEDISH MASSAGE
Common system of massage using kneading, stroking and pummelling to achieve relaxation and increased circulation of the blood.

TAI CHI
Part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Flowing slow movement and breathing techniques stimulate and regulate the flow of Chi energy.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
The basis of much ancient healing wisdom which also shows a similarity to other traditional in both thought and delivery of treatment. The belief stems from the concept of Ying and Yang - Yin being about the feminine traits, quiet calm and introspection whilst Yang represents loudness, light and masculine traits. These must be balanced to achieve health and well being. Incorporates Acupuncture, Tui Na & Chinese

HERBAL MEDICINE
Treatments include exercise and Manipulation (TUI NA), Herbal medicines, Healing (QI GONG) and Acupressure amongst others.

TRAGERWORK
Tragerwork is alight and gentle form of massage which does not use oil or rubbing. Main new thought is the use of mental gymnastics (Mentastics) which has had success in reducing pain

TUI NA
Massage in the Chinese way meaning pull and grasp. It is an important component of TCM. Tui Na involves massage, acupressure, gentle releases, mobilisation, chi gung and cranial balancing.

YOGA
Indian Medicine places much emphasis on prevention and yoga is used with that in mind. There are many different type of yoga postural and stretching exercises and the student is always advised to go to a qualified teacher.

ZERO BALANCING
Light manipulation programme based on Chi energy transfers and stimulating the energy flow though the body.

ZONE THERAPY
Another name for reflexology. Healing treatment is given to the zones of the foot which appear reflect the sensitivity of certain organs.

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