When the average Westerner hears “alternative medicine therapy”, images of voodoo witchdoctors waving their arm about often spring to mind. Some alternative therapy practices such as Ayurveda or hypnotism will ask you to make lifestyle changes that may make the average person uncomfortable. One of the biggest fears a person has is of loosing control of his or her life. Misconceptions about alternative medicine therapy in the media and from some organized religions can make one too scared to even try it.

Herbs And Oils And Crystals…Oh, My!

Choosing to use alternative medicine therapy will not make you crazy or make you fall into someone’s power. You will not have to change religions, or even have a religious viewpoint. And you may not have to lie on a couch and talk about your oedipal complex. Despite the name “therapy”, alternative medicine therapy means “treatment”, not psychotherapy…although it can if you want it to.

Alternative medicine therapy can and often does ask you to really think about how you see your place in the universe. This can happen in many circumstances, from being asked to trust your own instinct (which can be really hard), to think of crystals or scented oils as having healing properties both physical and emotional or to allow a masseur to touch you. This is not the clinical, “take two and call me in the morning and don’t talk back” kind of medicine you may have grown up with. You are expected to have a brain and think things through.

Choosing An Alternative Therapy

Don’t just decide on an alternative medicine therapy at random. Look into it. If you are thinking, for example, of getting hypnotized to quit smoking, learn about real hypnotism. Many health insurance still won’t cover alternative medicine therapies such as hypnotism, so you must consider the cost. If you understand the principles of hypnotism, you could even buy a self-hypnotism tape or CD and do the process yourself. And you can not be made to do what you don’t want to do…ever! There is no Svengali waiting to brainwash you.

If you have trouble understanding an alternative medicine therapy, then pass it over for something you are interested in, or at least can easily grasp the basics. Homeopathy is very popular, especially in England, where products are available in the corner chemists’. When this writer lived in England, I thought about treating myself with homeopathic remedies. But in looking up which personality type I was (which you need to know in order to pick a medicine), I was flummoxed. So, I abandoned it and stuck with herbal teas, aromatherapy and modern medicine.