Sorting through confusing terminology

I recall when I first ventured into the realm of natural medicine. As a child of a firmly conventional upbringing, I remember feeling like a tourist as I navigated through so many words and concepts I had lived my whole life never hearing. Holistic? Functional? Integrative? It can feel overwhelming, foreign, and, simply, confusing. While there is a lot of overlap between common terminology you may hear, I’m here today to shed some light on what it all means. 

Holistic

Holistic simply means considering the whole. In the health world, holistic typically refers to a type of medicine that considers all the parts of the human body: the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects. Holistic medicine typically considers the interconnection between these parts, rather than seeing them as separate entities acting on their own. We think about how, for example, there is a connection between someone’s chronic anxiety and co-occurring abdominal pain. Some mental health practitioners may focus from a holistic lens. Practices such as deep breathing, yoga poses, and healthy nutrition consider how our mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional parts are connected when approaching mental well-being. 

Functional

Functional medicine is a broad term meaning exactly what it sounds like: considering the functions of the human body when considering disease. Functional medicine looks to determine the root cause of different diseases and understand how the function of the body is no longer ideal. For example, certain proteins may be overfunctioning or underfunctioning, or your body may be over-expressing signals of inflammation. Functional medicine is, by definition, holistic in nature. To truly understand the dysfunction within the body, we recognize how the mind and body are intimately connected. Functional doctors can be allopathic doctors, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, and more. It refers to the perspective that the health practitioner is choosing to take: one that is focused on understanding the root cause of your symptoms.

Integrative

Integrative medicine refers to the combination of conventional and traditional ways of practicing medicine. For example, integrative doctors may utilize an herb that was used by indigenous cultures for centuries, while running laboratory analyses backed in the science of the 21st century. Integrative practitioners recognize the value in traditional and conventional medicine, and they strive to use a combination of modalities that will best fit the patient in front of them. 

Practitioners

There are a variety of practitioners that operate under these terms, and it’s important to find the one that fits your best needs. Naturopathic doctors, or NDs, are licensed doctors who attend 4-year medical schools that provide education on conventional approaches to medicine as well as natural modalities such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, counseling, nutrition, physical medicine, and more. They adhere to a number of principles in their medical perspective, including treating the root cause, treating the whole person, and providing preventative care. Naturopathic doctors often work in private practice, group practices, or occasionally hospitals. They can be found through their websites or social media platforms, through referrals, or through their professional memberships. 

Functional doctors are often MDs or DOs who have taken extra training in functional medicine through a separate organization. These doctors most likely have learned medicine through a conventional perspective and sought something more after their license, seeking to increase the modalities they could use and shift their approach to medicine. The Institute of Functional Medicine is the most well-recognized functional medicine training program, and a list of their practitioners can be found on their website. 

There are also a variety of practitioners that choose to operate through a holistic lens. For example, licensed therapists including social workers, clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists go through a master’s program, extensive clinical training, and licensing exams to practice therapy. Many of these practitioners will choose to practice holistically, meaning they consider the connection between mind, body, and spirit. They may choose to incorporate more mindfulness, somatic, or polyvagal techniques into their practice.