Course Descriptions

Offered: 1st 8-week session Fall Semester (Fall A)

Students will examine the fundamental concepts of integrative health and wellness (IHW), including the history, philosophies, and methods of prominent integrative therapies. Perceived differences between and limitations of traditional “allopathic” medicine and IHW “nontraditional” medicine will be identified. Patients’ motivations and patterns of use of IHW approaches will be explored. Components of the five major areas within IHW as identified by the National Institutes of Health will be introduced. These include alternative medical systems, body-based systems (massage, chiropractic, rolfing), mind-body medicine, biological approaches (herbal medicine, nutritional approaches, pharmacological therapies, Ayurveda), and bioelectromagnetics (energy healing). The state of basic scientific knowledge and data from controlled trials relating to the safety, efficacy, and mechanisms of action of integrative therapies are presented. In the second half of the course, an overview of the scientific evidence for the integrative biological and body-based approaches will be provided. Theories for how these approaches function to affect health are examined, such as psychoneuroimmunology, the role of inflammation, and the gut microbiome. Key practice, legal, and ethical issues facing CAM researchers and practitioners are reviewed.

In this course, students will learn about the connections between the mind, body, spirit, and energy in relation to health and disease. An overview of the scientific evidence for integrative interventions for health promotion and treatment is provided. Students will learn advanced skills in approaches that promote or rely on the connection between the mind and body. These include meditation, mindfulness, guided imagery, autogenics, hypnosis, spirituality, movement-based, journaling, acupuncture and energy therapies, and art therapies. Students will participate in experiential learning by practicing integrative approaches and interacting with an integrative health provider to increase their self-awareness of the interconnections between emotional, physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects of health.

Students will learn the fundamentals of health coaching, which is guiding and enabling patients/clients to make and sustain choices to achieve and maintain health. Students will review frameworks and techniques of health coaching from a holistic perspective including assessment, identification of goals and barriers, development of action plans, implementation strategies, and monitoring progress. Students will be introduced to health behavior change theories and models, as well as interventions from integrative health and wellness. Also explored are personal, social, lifestyle, and medical resources to encourage comprehensive wellness. Students will work to develop strategies appropriate to their patient/client population through research, class discussions, mentored coaching activities, and independent assignments. Students will also complete a behavioral change project with a partner, allowing them to experience the roles of both a health and wellness coach and a client.

This course will provide students an interprofessional overview of the clinical application of integrative health and wellness approaches. Students will learn the skills necessary for developing an effective therapeutic practitioner-patient relationship and strategies for communicating and educating patients about integrative health and wellness approaches, potential benefits, and possible risks. The factors affecting the utilization, interpretation, and patient understanding of these therapies will be examined. Clinical decision-making and the influence of research on recommendations and evaluation will be examined. Students will learn how the integrative assessment differs from the conventional assessment process and how to develop an integrative treatment plan. Numerous case studies demonstrating the application of integrative approaches for the treatment and prevention of common and chronic diseases will be analyzed. Finally, the challenges in developing research to adequately examine the integrative approach as it is applied in clinical practice will be discussed.