Practitioners often advertise themselves as holistic. Recent articles in Time and Life magazines have documented the trend towards increased use of holistic and alternative medicine.
Some people use the words holistic and alternative synonymously.
The often-used story of the four blind men describing an elephant may shed some light on the different uses and interpretations of the word holistic. The first blind man felt the elephant's trunk and described it as a large snake. The second one felt the elephant's leg and described it as a tree. The third one felt the elephant's midsection and described it as a wall. The fourth felt the elephant's tail and described it as a rope.