| Traditional Western Allopathic Model |
Holistic (John Spencer Ellis) Model |
| Treatment of symptoms with the patient as a primarily and passive participant in the healing process. |
Search for patterns, causes, mental contributions |
| Specialized and segregated |
Integrated; concerned with whole patient |
| Emphasis on efficiency and profit |
Emphasis on human values and experience |
| Professional should be emotionally neutral to avoid bias |
Professional's caring is a component of healing. Several studies confirm. |
| Pain and disease are wholly negative |
Pain and misery may be valuable signals of internal conflicts |
| Primary intervention with drugs, surgery |
Minimal intervention with appropriate technology, complemented with a
range of noninvasive techniques (psycho techniques, diet, exercise) |
| Body seen as a machine in good or bad repair |
Body seen as a dynamic system, a complex energy field within fields
(family, workplace, environment, culture, life history, personal orientation to environment) |
| Disease or disability seen as an entity |
Disease or disability seen as a process |
| Emphasis on eliminating symptoms and disease |
Emphasis on achieving maximum body-mind health |
| Patient is dependent |
Patient is autonomous and a contributor to the healing process |
| Professional is authority |
Professional is therapeutic partner |
| Body and mind are separate; psychosomatic illnesses seen as mental; may refer (patient) to psychiatrist |
Body-mind perspective, psychosomatic illness is the province of all health
care professionals |
| Mind is secondary factor in organic illness |
Mind is primary or co-equal factor in all illness |
| Placebo effect is evidence of power of suggestion |
Placebo effect is evidence of mind's role in disease and healing |
| Primary reliance on quantitative information (charts, tests, and dates) |
Primary reliance on qualitative information, including patient reports and professional's intuition; quantitative data an adjunct |
"Prevention" seen as largely environmental; vitamins, rest, exercise,
immunization, not smoking |
"Prevention" synonymous with wholeness; in work, relationships, goals,
body-mind-spirit, including avoidance of toxins |