Difference between integrative therapies and complementary therapies
How different perspectives of care are articulated within human well-being
In recent years, it has become common to hear terms likecomplementary therapiesandintegrative therapies. Although they are often used as synonyms, they do not mean the same thing.
Understanding this difference allows for a better understanding of how different care practices can coexist respectfully within human well-being, without replacing conventional medicine, but rather expanding the way we understand the body, emotion, and environment.
🌿 What are complementary therapies?
Complementary therapies are practices that are usedalongside conventional medical treatment, with the aim of supporting the overall well-being of the person.
They are called "complementary" because they do not replace medical care, but rather accompany it with other tools such as:
Massages
Use of medicinal plants
Sound therapy
Relaxation techniques
Traditional energy practices
Their focus is on supporting the person while they go through a health process.
🌺 What are integrative therapies?
Integrative therapies go a step further. They do not just focus on accompanying a treatment, but onintegrating different perspectives of care: body, emotion, territory, culture, and lifestyle.
This approach considers that human well-being does not depend solely on the absence of disease, but on the relationship that the person has with:
Their body
Their natural environment
Their emotional processes
Their cultural history
Integrative therapies articulate knowledge from traditional medicine, ancestral wisdom, and contemporary practices within the same perspective of care.
🧭 Key difference
| Complementary therapies | Integrative therapies |
|---|---|
| Accompany a medical treatment | Integrate different dimensions of well-being |
| Are applied alongside conventional medicine | Consider body, emotion, culture, and territory |
| More specific approach | Broader and relational approach |
| Support for the health process | Global understanding of well-being |
🌎 Intercultural health and holistic approach
Integrative therapies directly engage with intercultural health, as they recognize the value of traditional knowledge, the use of medicinal plants, ancestral midwifery, and the connection with nature as part of human care.
This approach also incorporates a holistic perspective, where the person is understood in their entirety and not just from an isolated symptom.
⚠️ A respectful and complementary approach
Both complementary and integrative therapies are developed as support for well-being and do not replace medical care when it is necessary.
Its value lies in broadening the understanding of care from different cultural and natural perspectives.
🌿 From the perspective of Earth Medicine
In Earth Medicine, we work from an integrative approach, where therapies, medicinal plants, and ancestral knowledge engage in dialogue with intercultural health and respectful care of the body and territory.