Holistic Health and Wellness

Holistic medicine is sometimes comingled with the concepts of integrative medicine, alternative medicine, and complementary medicine. The aspect that differentiates holistic medicine from the others is that physical health is not the primary focus of treatment; rather the therapy is targeted to enhance the spiritual, mental, and physical of being. Theses core segments of holistic therapy were identified by Evarts Greene Loomis.

Evarts Greene Loomis (1910 - 2003) is often referred to as the “father of holistic medicine” movement. His beliefs were shaped during his impressionable years at Haverford College near Philadelphia, PA. Loomis was first moved by a pamphlet about the Alsatian German-French theologian Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer earned the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his conceptual views in his work “Reverence for Life.”

Schweitzer’s work was centered on the concept that Western Civilization was decaying as the result of the abandonment of the belief that all life should be respected. Schweitzer dedicated his life to easing the suffering of natives who lacked access to skilled medical care. Loomis was so moved by the works and views of Schweitzer that he phoned his parents and informed them that he would be changing his major from biology to pre-medicine.

While a student at Haveford, Loomis was also influenced by a Jan Christiaan Smuts’ book, "Holism and Evolution". Smuts was a prominent South African, British Statesman, and philosopher who authored the bookin 1926. Smuts pioneered the concept of holism, which he defined as "the tendency in nature to form wholes that are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution."

Loomis also acknowledged that his philosophy professor at Haverford, Rufus Jones, influenced his approach as well. Aside from being a philosophy professor, Jones (1863-1948) was also known as a writer, magazine editor, and philosopher instrumental in the development of the Haveford Emergency Unit (HEU) which gave birth to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The AFSC received the Nobel Peace Prize (along with the British Friends Service Council) on behalf of all Quakers in 1947 for their efforts in providing conscientious objectors with a constructive alternative to military service.

Later in life Dr. Loomis was influenced heavily by his own work on the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland. Loomis' work often required that he travel by boat and dog sled to visit with his patients. During these visits he felt a calling to "treat the whole man." His involvement with the mission resulted in the development of a therapy that he believed would address the elements that encompassed every human being. He deduced that these elements were the spiritual, mental, and physical.

Loomis also served in World War II as a surgeon with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association in Algeria. He worked in the city of Tenchung, China as the director of a hospital and clinic that tended to the needs of American and Chinese civilians and military personnel. He relocated to California after his service to further develop his ideas as he felt other areas of the United States were too conservative.

His time in China encouraged him to pursue his passion of helping others through the healing power that he felt nature provided. In a vision he saw a sanitarium located “below a triangular mountain peak” and began site research to establish his practice. After purchasing land in Hemet, California, Loomis and his wife began to administer holistic medicine to those that were interested. Loomis focused much of his counseling on the benefits of nutrition and the benefits of exercise to improve the lives of his patients.

Loomis’ therapy center, known as Meadowlark, was the location of the discussion that formed the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA) in 1977. Loomis was presented with the AHMA Holistic Medicine Pioneer award in May 2003.

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