Herbal medicine attempts to find the underlying cause of an illness rather than focusing on treating individual symptoms. Herbalists believe that herbs can help the body to heal itself by restoring harmony and balance and activating the body's natural healing abilities. By stimulating the immune system, a cascading healing effect occurs in the body, positively affecting mental health.

Most of us use herbs throughout our day, from the plant extracts in a cup of tea to the garlic in our favorite recipe. The food and beverages we consume contain a variety of herbal compounds, all of which come from plants. It’s easy to forget how important herbs are, and overlook their medicinal qualities. Long practiced outside of conventional medicine, herbalism is becoming more mainstream as up-to-date analysis and research show their value in the treatment and prevention of disease.

Herbal Synergy

Herbalists try to find the underlying cause of an illness rather than treat the individual symptoms. The herbalist believes that the use of tinctures and herbal tonics can help the body to heal itself by restoring harmony and balance and activating the body’s natural healing abilities.

Herbal synergy is key principle of herbal medicine. Herbal remedies are extracted from leaves, petals and roots of plants and are a complex mixture of lots of different compounds. While a conventional pharmaceutical drug will usually be a single active ingredient, the idea behind herbal synergy is that hundreds if not thousands of constituents of a plant extract all work together to treat an illness. Another concept behind synergy is that by using a combination of different herbs in a preparation, a powerful effect will be created.

Detoxification and Cleansing

Detoxification, the process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins and excesses from the body, can not only help improve mental and physical functioning - it prepares the body for herbal remedies. By eliminating harmful contaminants, herbs, nutritional supplements, food, and even pharmaceuticals have a more profound effect.

Detoxification can be done in a variety olf ways, such as fasting, or it can be done using cleansing herbs. There are many different approaches to herbal medicine, including European/folk, Oriental, Ayurvedic, Hebrew, Christian, Pythagorean, American Indian, United States, Scientific, Biochemical, Intuitive, Clinical, and Medical. Traditional Chinese medicine herbal practitioners believe that using tonifying herbs before cleansing in some manner can actually cause damage, forcing toxins deeper into the organs.

References
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About the Author

Dr. Randi Fredricks, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and author specializing in the treatment of mental health using integrative medicine and natural therapies. She works with individuals, couples, and families at her office in San Jose, California. Dr. Fredricks' publications include the landmark book Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems. Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Dr. Randi Fredricks as articles often present the published results of the research of other professionals. Copyright © 2012. To cite this article, please use the following citation: Fredricks, R. (2008). Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health. Bloomington, IN: Author House.