Generosa P. Masangkay, M.D. & William F. Cavitt, Ed.D.
The mental health industry reeks with individualism and singular approaches to providing patient care. More recently though the term "holistic" has come on the mental health scene. Just what does the term "holistic" mean? Some may say, "we must look at the body as a whole." Others contend that, "we must become integrated and eclectic in our approach to patient treatment." Still, others espouse that, "a mental health treatment provider should consider the patient's mind, body, and spirit or the treatment will never be complete." The authors of this brief article believe each of the above statements are all correct but become even more dynamic as a theory of gestalt holism. In other words, the sum of a patient's existence, psychological difficulty, and treatment are greater than each of the individual elements that make up these three considerations of mental health.
If a person's body is in severe pain, can his or her mind attend? If their spirit is in violation of their moral values or religious beliefs, can they possess a truly sound mind? Many traditional psychologists and psychiatrists would avoid these questions and leave them to the philosophers. But, to believe in holistic living the new mental health professional should look at the philosophical theory of holism. The philosophy of holism is a theory professing that the whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than the mere sum of their parts. In other words, we must not just add up what we believe is a holistic approach to healing and say there is no more - but, we must be willing to constantly search for what else may be out there to help our patients.
Always look for the elements of treatment to heal the mind, whether they are counseling, psychotherapy, psychoactive medication, acupuncture, deep muscle massage, herbs, or a stress free vacation. The therapist can't say, "I'm going to use cognitive therapy to treat a post traumatic stress disorder client even if he or she is in so much physical pain that they cannot pay attention during a therapy session." Likewise, a psychiatrist would be remiss to allow a person lacking the mental ability to manage their own medication plan by taking a box of medicine home alone. Similarly, a therapist should think twice before they reject addressing the spiritual aspect of a client's psycho dynamics. If one believes a person's spirit is involved in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that spirit becomes a target for the holistic approach, even if the consultation of a religious representative is necessary. These situations plainly call for a team approach.
It wasn't too many years ago that the psycho dynamic, humanist, behaviorist, cognitivist, and psycho physiologist were all at each others throat in an effort to prove which was the best psychological perspective. Today, most psychologists and psychiatrists profess eclecticism, which is the ability to chose aspects from each of the different perspectives in accordance to the specific and unique needs of their patients. It seems logical then that the next step should be a holistic treatment for people with mental health problems, which is the ability to chose from all the "helping" professions exactly what is needed to help the person's ailing mind, body, and spirit.
Dr. Masangkay is a psychiatrist at Bridgeway Center, Inc. Fort Walton Beach, Florida and is in private practice with Dr. Cavitt at the Center of Holistic Rational Living, Pensacola, Florida.