Prevention is preferable to treatment and is usually more cost-effective. The most cost-effective approach evokes the patient's own innate healing capabilities. Illness is viewed as a manifestation of a dysfunction of the whole person, not as an isolated event. A major determinant of healing outcomes is the quality of the relationship established between physician and patient, in which patient autonomy is encouraged. The ideal physician-patient relationship considers the needs, desires, awareness and insight of the patient as well as those of the physician.
Physicians significantly influence patients by their example.
Illness, pain, and the dying process can be learning opportunities for patients and physicians. Holistic physicians encourage patients to evoke the healing power of love, hope, humor and enthusiasm, and to release the toxic consequences of hostility, shame, greed, depression, and prolonged fear, anger, and grief. Unconditional love is life's most powerful medicine. Physicians strive to adopt an attitude of unconditional love for patients, themselves, and other practitioners. Optimal health is much more than the absence of sickness.