Key Takeaways
- Holistic psychiatry takes a “whole-person” approach to care, meaning it considers a person’s mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.
- Holistic psychiatry is an umbrella term for psychiatric treatment that uses traditional methods, like medication management, and complementary therapies, like meditation, art therapy, and nutritional counseling.
- A holistic approach to mental healthcare can be used to treat a range of mental and behavioral health conditions. Talk to your psychiatric provider if you’re interested in exploring this type of treatment.
Holistic psychiatry practices focus on the mind-body connection. They combine traditional psychiatric treatment with complementary therapies to support the whole person — meaning your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.
With a holistic approach, your provider will consider factors like your mental health symptoms, physical health, lifestyle habits, and personality traits to create a treatment plan that addresses the root cause of your concerns. If you’re looking for personalized care that goes beyond conventional medicine, consider exploring a more holistic approach to mental healthcare.
What is holistic psychiatry?
According to the American Holistic Health Association, holistic care can help people achieve mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical interconnectedness. Holistic psychiatry encourages people to be active participants in their health and healing journey and to make lifestyle choices that promote overall wellness.
Like with other types of psychiatric care, your provider will consider your symptoms, health history, and any current medications when creating your treatment plan. However, they’ll also adopt a wider lens to consider factors like early life experiences, stress-management skills, personal and spiritual beliefs, and lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and sleep.
Proponents of holistic psychiatry believe this whole-person approach offers several mental health benefits, including:
- Increased self awareness and emotional-regulation skills
- Sustainable and healthy coping mechanisms
- Greater mental, emotional, and physical health
- Reduced need for medication management
- Increased mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical balance
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Popular types of holistic psychiatric care
Holistic psychiatry is an umbrella term for various psychiatric approaches that consider the mind-body connection. Holistic psychiatry tools and strategies might include:
- Yoga, tai chi, and qigong
- Mindfulness and meditation
- Psychotherapy
- Art and music therapy
- Acupuncture
- Nutritional counseling
- Light therapy
- Herbal medicines and/or dietary supplements
- Body work
- Aromatherapy
There are two notable approaches to holistic psychiatric care:
1. Integrative psychiatry
As a type of holistic care, integrative psychiatry focuses on treating the whole person — not just their symptoms or diagnosis. An integrative psychiatrist may ask about your relationship history, lifestyle habits, and biological and psychological risk factors to better understand the root causes of your mental health concerns. Integrative psychiatry typically combines medication management with methods like mindfulness and talk therapy.
2. Functional psychiatry
Functional psychiatry is another psychiatric approach that focuses on whole-person care. Psychiatrists who practice functional medicine will work with you to identify and manage the biological causes of your mental health challenges. In most cases, this will involve lab testing to learn more about your hormones, gut health, and any nutritional deficiencies.
In addition to medication management and talk therapy, functional psychiatry can include dietary supplements and exercise therapy.
Finding the right holistic psychiatrist for you
Holistic psychiatry can be helpful for mental and behavioral health conditions, like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. You may have success with a holistic approach to mental healthcare if you:
- Have had limited success with medication alone, or you feel like your current treatment plan isn’t effectively meeting your needs
- Have been experiencing both mental and physical health symptoms, like depression and chronic fatigue
- Want to understand why you feel the way you do so you can achieve long-term healing and growth
- Are open to making lifestyle changes, like diet, physical activity, and stress management
Holistic psychiatry emphasizes the importance of shared decision making. It encourages close collaboration between you and your psychiatrist so you feel empowered to make informed decisions about your health. Because of this, it’s important to find a provider you’re comfortable with and who has the right type of experience for your needs.
When choosing a psychiatrist who practices with a holistic approach, keep these questions in mind:
- How long have they practiced holistic care?
- What complementary therapies do they use in their practice?
- How often is medication part of their treatment plans?
- How do they collaborate with other healthcare professionals?
I have seen many people come in frustrated or demoralized because medications haven’t provided relief from their symptoms. If this is your experience, I recommend finding a provider who practices from a more holistic perspective — someone who will work with you to more closely examine and then address other factors that may be underlying or contributing to your condition.
Find care with Rula
Everyone has health challenges and concerns, and their mental healthcare should reflect that. With holistic psychiatry, you don’t have to choose between medication and alternative methods. Your provider will consider mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual factors to help each person feel their best.
At Rula, we’re committed to delivering a comprehensive behavioral health experience that helps people feel seen and understood so they can get back to feeling their best.
Rula makes it easier to find a licensed therapist or psychiatric provider who accepts your insurance so you don’t have to choose between affordable care and excellent care. With a diverse network of more than 15,000 providers, 24/7 crisis support, and appointments available as soon as tomorrow, we’re here to help you make progress — wherever you are on your mental health journey.
About the author
Alex Bachert
Alex Bachert is a freelance copywriter and mental health advocate. Since earning her masters degree in public health, she has focused her career on creating informative content that empowers people to prioritize their health and well-being. Alex has partnered with organizations like Ro, WellTheory, and Firsthand, and her work has been recognized by the Digital Health Association.
When she’s not writing about mental health, Alex is usually playing pickleball, meeting with her local board of health, or enjoying time with her three kids.
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