Think of the many prescriptions written for antibiotics when patients complain of what are clearly viral cold symptoms. Thus, as one example, I prefer homeopathy to drug therapy for my somatizing patients. Acknowledging What Works Alternative practitioners believe treatments such as reflexology, chiropractic, prayer, and ceremony can be effective, although current studies have not separated the intrinsic effect of these techniques from factors inherent in the doctor-patient relationship. We do not have to know why something works to acknowledge that it does. We don't yet know how SSRIs work, but we know they effectively treat depression.
Integrative physicians look at treatments such as acupuncture or reflexology in the same way.
We don't know how they work, but they do. I am impressed with results, not ideology, and I'm not troubled by the apparent contradictions in combining a biomedical approach with alternative care. I know a homeopath who struggled for weeks to treat a case of giardiasis. After the patient had lost 30 pounds to the disease, she went to her family doctor and was given metronidazole. She recovered in three days.