Directories Explained

We believe that how and why a practitioner provides a service is just as important as what they actually do. That's why we created a different directory for each approach to healthy living that the practitioners and companies listed here take. Here's a brief description for each of these seven approaches.

Wellness

A Wellness oriented service focuses on promoting health, learning, productivity and effective living. Though problems may be dealt with, the work doesn't stop there. Here you can explore your strengths, skills, capabilities and the many other things that are right about you.

Holistic

Holistic health approaches work with the whole person -- the body, mind, emotions, environment and spirit. This means that they recognize the way our emotions affect our health, the way our health affects our emotions, and so on. It doesn't make sense from a holistic perspective to treat physical illnesses without dealing with the other parts of our being.

Alternative or Complementary

There are many approaches to healing, some of which have been known and practiced for centuries. These therapies are designed to provide an alternative to contemporary Western medicine for people who are looking for different approaches to healing, and also to complement (or add onto) the techniques of conventional medicine for people who want to use all approaches that are available to them.

Spiritual or Transpersonal

These services help people improve their spiritual life -- create a sense of meaning and purpose in their life and connect with something greater and grander than their own individual, personal selves. They include traditional religious approaches to spiritual awareness -- churches, synagogues and other religious groups -- as well as other non-traditional approaches like meditation and spiritual healing.

Humanistic

Humanistic approaches explore what it means to be human in the best sense of the word -- creative, loving, empowered and caring. These approaches emphasize connecting with people in a real, honest, caring way.

Recovery

Recovery approaches are designed to help people heal from a wounded past. Alcoholics Anonymous started this personal/social movement, and recovery groups have played a role in helping millions of people overcome past obstacles to feeling loveable, adequate and effective.

Natural

Natural approaches attempt to help people become more healthy in ways that were designed by nature itself. Natural approaches tend to avoid highly processed foods or products, and instead focus on products taken directly from nature.