Drs. Andrew Weil and Karen Johnson

The defining principles of integrative medicine are:

• The patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
• All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration.
• The care addresses the whole person, including body, mind, and spirit in the context of community.
• Practitioners use all appropriate healing sciences to facilitate the body’s innate healing response.
• Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive are used whenever possible.
• Because good medicine is based in good science, integrative medicine is inquiry-driven and open to new models of care.
• Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
• Care is individualized to best address the person’s unique conditions, needs, and circumstances.
• Practitioners of integrative medicine exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

In addition to addressing the individual’s immediate health problem(s) as well as the deeper causes of the disease or illness, integrative medicine strategies also foster the development of healthy behaviors and skills for effective self-care that patients can use throughout their lives.