Paper short abstract:

More and more patients are exploring CAM therapies as a holistic approach to health. This paper looks at Sowa Rigpa treatment realities in Europe and asks what a holistic approach looks like in these contexts and how this interpretation contributes to a distinct European character of the practice.

Paper long abstract:

The idea of holistic medical treatments and care play an important role in attracting patients to CAM therapies in European contexts, arguing that biomedicine often fails to consider patients in their psychosocial dimensions. With its pronounced emphasis on mental and emotional wellbeing, diet and lifestyle, Sowa Rigpa appears to be an ideal of holistic medical care, and practitioners often claim to fulfil this ideal in their practice as a means to distinguish themselves from biomedical approaches and practitioners as well as to propagate the benefits of Sowa Rigpa consultations and treatments.

Acknowledging its basis as a medical system that intricately intertwines body and mind and which aims to cover many of the complex psychosocial dimensions of disease, health and healing, this paper seeks to look at more nuanced treatment realities of Sowa Rigpa medical care in Europe and asks how a holistic approach in these practice contexts looks like and to what extent it can possibly fulfil its own as well as patients' expectations with regard to holistic medicine. Additionally, it will explore how the specific settings of consultations in Europe as well as a perceived neediness of patients influence how holistic Sowa Rigpa care is interpreted and support its transformation as well as the emergence of a distinct European character and politics of practice.