Anthroposophic Medicine
“A real medicine can only exist when it penetrates into a knowledge which embraces the human being in respect to body, soul and spirit.”
Rudolf Steiner
Anthroposophic Medicine is a study of the evolution of human wisdom as it relates to illness and healing, bringing the wisdom streams of ancient medicine and modern science together. Growing out of the work of Rudolf Steiner in collaboration with physicians in the early 1920s, AM seeks to restore the concepts of soul and spirit to modern medicine and introduce scientific methodologies for its active investigation. Fundamental principles about the nature of the human being from ancient healing traditions are carefully considered and studied, renewed with modern scientific thinking.
Anthroposophic physicians are fully licensed medical doctors who prescribe herbal and homeopathic preparations in addition to modern medical treatment when needed. Because physiologic processes in the body are often mirrored in nature, anthroposophic physicians use plant, mineral, and animal remedies in order to re-establish healthy balance. They may also prescribe movement, artistic therapies, diet and lifestyle changes as part of a whole-patient approach.
All anthroposophic medicines and therapies are designed to stimulate the patient’s powers of self-healing. In this way they complement conventional medication. Where conventional medicine concentrates on destroying the agents of disease, suppressing associated processes and replacing missing substances (e.g. vitamins, hormones, blood elements), anthroposophic medicine aims to enable the human organism to overcome a disease through its own resources. The emphasis is on restoring the balance of bodily functions and strengthening the forces of individualization and autonomy. The right therapies play a major role in this process.
Nursing Therapies
Nursing therapies are often applied in collaboration with an anthroposophic physician as part of an integrative approach to healthcare. The physician may give specific prescriptions for herbal compresses, medicinal oils and organ applications in order to more fully address a patient’s medical condition.
Herbal Compresses:
These warm herbal compresses take about one hour while the patient relaxes, fully-dressed, on a treatment table. Blankets, pillows and natural fiber wraps are used to keep patients warm and comfortable. The treatment may begin with rhythmical einreibungen (see below) to feet and lower legs to help the body relax and receive the treatment. The compress is then applied to an organ for 20 minutes, followed by a period of rest so the patient may fully take in the healing effects of the treatment.
Rhythmical Einreibungen (RE):
RE, also known as Rhythmic Body Oiling, is an application of medicinal oil that weaves together the polar principles of form and movement to improve circulation, breathing and tissue tone. The nurse uses gentle and fluid hand movements imbued with warmth, rhythm and breathing to support a person’s feeling of well-being and inner harmony. RE is an ongoing conversation between nurse & patient; with a series of sessions the greatest inner effect can be noticed. All sessions include a rest time so the intention of the treatment is fully digested & taken up by the patient.
Art Therapy
For over a hundred years, starting in the early 1920’s, Anthroposophic Therapeutic Arts have played an integral part in Anthroposophic Medicine’s multidisciplinary approach to health and illness on all levels. Based on a deep understanding of the human being from an Anthroposophic perspective, an extensive training in the therapeutic arts, and a well-grounded understanding of what supports health and can cause illness, therapists are able to support and encourage patients to actively intervene in their pathological process and, through artistic activity, stimulate their own healing resources.
Art therapies are able to support and encourage patients to actively intervene in their illness process and, through artistic activity, stimulate their own healing resources.
Therapeutic arts can be used to affect the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual functions of the human being. The therapeutic visual arts at Live Oak Medicine include drawing, painting, sculpture and felting.
No prior experience required.
