Formed in 1983 by a group of medical doctors and students, the BHMA is a public-professional network of like-minded people - mainstream healthcare professionals, CAM practitioners, and members of the public - committed to promoting holistic practice in healthcare, and holistic wellbeing in individuals and communities.
Holism is a term widely used but often ill-defined, and misunderstood to refer simply to alternative therapies or approaches that include complementary medicine. To us, holism is a way of being and doing that affects every aspect of sickness and health. The holistic way is about relatedness rather than separation - relationship with one another and with our wonderful but often cruel world.
Our message is that holism stems from an understanding that there is a link between physical health and well-being. Well-being requires more than the absence of disease; it is dependent not just on our physical state, but on psychological, emotional, social, spiritual and environmental considerations.