Holistic Therapy vs. Traditional Therapy: Which is Best For You?

Overview

Traditional therapy is geared towards the identification and treatment of some mental, emotional or physical issues using evidence based practices. Instead, holistic therapy focuses on the entire individual, whole person (mind, body and spirit) and creates balance and interrelationship to promote health. It is high time to speak about how each of the approaches functions and which one can be the best choice.

What is Traditional Therapy?

Psychotherapy or talk therapy is also taken as a traditional therapy and it is based on the aspect of science and clinical studies. It is concerned primarily with the mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and addiction. The lessons are usually delivered by qualified therapists, psychologists or psychiatrists who use systematic means to diagnose and treat mental issues.

The traditional therapy is goal-oriented and interested in the minimization of symptoms, the improved functioning, as well as the change in behavior. It is also adaptable and offers numerous modalities to accommodate the requirements of a specific client.

Common Approaches in Traditional Therapy

The most common traditional methods of therapy are:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps to achieve and change negative thinking styles.
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): is humanistic.
• Psychodynamic Therapy: The therapy explores thoughts and childhood experiences which are unconscious and dictate the behavior.
• Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): Relationship style: healthy communication.
• Traditional Massage Therapy: This is applied to alleviate physical stress, muscle spasms and mental stress, and it is usually used in conjunction with psychological therapy.

Benefits of Traditional Therapy

Traditional therapy possesses a host of advantages:

• It is scientifically known to be effective in the treatment of a large variety of mental health conditions.
• The procedure is organized and quantifiable, and it has an objective and a way of tracking progress.
• Working under licenses, professional support is given by the professionals with the experience of several years of training.
• Insurance covers many traditional therapies, and thus they are relatively cheap and easy to access.

It is effective with those who want to have clinical and evidence-based solutions to a particular mental or emotional issue.

What is Holistic Therapy?

The holistic treatment is more natural and has a larger scope of healing. It does not simply examine the symptoms but addresses the entire human being, mind, body and soul. This is geared towards equalizing all aspects of life of an individual to be able to lead a sustainable well being.

By entering the search query of holistic therapy in the field, people will be offered a great amount of the mental health counseling options, as well as some other parts, such as yoga, meditation, or energy-healing therapy.Holistic therapy promotes prevention, balance, self-awareness and requires the individual to have an active role in their healing process.

Examples of Holistic Techniques

The holistic therapies involve a combination of natural and integrative therapies that include but are not limited to:

• Mindfulness and Meditation: Assist to relax and stay awake of the moment.
• Yoga and Breathwork: Work out through movement and breathing to enhance the physical and emotional integrity.
• Massage Therapy: Relaxes tension, improves circulation and causes emotions to be released.
• Holistic replenish the energy in the body.
• Aromatherapy and Art Therapy: Experts can use their senses to stimulate creativity and minimize stress.
• Nutritional and Lifestyle Counseling: Good nutritional practices that enhance mental and physical health.

Benefits of Holistic Therapy

The holistic therapy has a number of distinctive benefits:

• It aims at total body healing that takes into consideration the emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of health.
• Therapy is custom made and tailored to the needs and lifestyles of the individual.
• The strategy is preventive, whereby it is focused on wellness and not just treatment.
• It is not invasive and it is dependent on natural healing processes.
• Self-awareness and balance enables clients to gain the power to manage their well-being.

Holistic therapy can be used to supplement the traditional therapy and help an individual to recover better by establishing harmony in the mind, body and spirit.

Comparing Holistic and Traditional Therapy

Despite the fact that both the holistic and traditional therapy are aimed at promoting health, there are several differences in the approaches and their focus.

Scope of Care:

The traditional approach focuses on the mental and emotional wellbeing as opposed to the holistic approach which is focused on the physical and spiritual front.

Techniques:

CBT, DBT and medication are scientifically proven means of traditional therapy. The holistic therapy is composed of mindfulness, yoga and massage among natural modalities.

Goals:

The major goal of the traditional therapy is reduction of symptoms and improvement of coping skills. The holistic therapy is expected to create a feeling of balance and harmony in life.

Flexibility:

The traditional therapy is clinical and organized according to particular treatment plans. The holistic therapy is more adaptive, which adjusts itself to the personal needs of energy and healing.

Duration:

Conventional therapy may be made following a certain schedule but in holistic therapy, it may be a life long practice.

Both of them may be efficient, and the combination of them can be the most effective in the case of many people. As per an illustration, the conventional therapy would assist in controlling mental illness symptoms and holistic treatment would promote relaxation and inner calm.

Which Therapy Approach is Best for You?

The correct treatment lies in your individual ambitions and interests.

Choose traditional therapy if you:

• Desire to have structured clinically proven treatment of mental conditions.
• Demand professional performance.
• Use evidence-based methods which are research based.

Choose holistic therapy if you:

• Need to take care of your whole being, mind, body, and spirit.
• Their inclinations are to natural, integrative and preventive.
• Ask to have a more flexible and lifestyle-based healing

A few consider that the combination of the two methods is the most effective they can get emotional support with traditional therapy and physical and spiritual balance with holistic therapy.