What Is Anthroposophic Medicine?: Scientific Basis – Therapeutic Potential – Prospects for Development

Dr. Michaela Glöckler has been Leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, the School of Spiritual Science in Dornach, Switzerland since 1988. She attended the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, then studied German language, literature, and history in Freiburg and Heidelberg. She studied medicine in Tübingen and Marburg and trained as a pediatrician at the community hospital in Herdecke and at the Bochum University Pediatric Clinic. Until 1988 she was a colleague in the children’s outpatient clinic at the Community Hospital in Herdecke and served as school doctor for the Rudolf Steiner School in Witten, Germany. Michaela has many publications in German, many of which have been published in English.

In this concise summary and introduction, Dr. Michaela Glöckler presents the therapeutic spectrum of anthroposophic medicine―its scientific basis, diagnostic methods, and potential for practice. She also offers numerous practical examples of its application and suggestions for treating patients at home. 

Anthroposophic medicine is an integrative system of medicine that combines scientific training and practice with a spiritual understanding of the human being. It primarily stimulates self-healing forces and directly supports recovery processes and innate capacities of resistance. Anthroposophic physicians―who are registered general practitioners and specialists―utilize the knowledge and skills of conventional treatments, anthroposophic and homoeopathic medicines, external applications, as well as eurythmy, arts, and physical therapies. 

Dr. Michaela Glöckler describes the current status of anthroposophic medicine and raises awareness of the social dimension of illness and health to address issues of fate and destiny and to show what individuals can do for their own health and that of others. She reflects on Steiner’s call to “make the health system democratic” and clarifies why scientific pluralism of methods and freedom of therapy are essential for the future development of healthcare systems and today’s understanding of diseases.

C O N T E N T S:

Preface

∞ What Is Anthroposophic Medicine?
∞ Why Have Anthroposophy in Medicine?
∞ Understanding Health and Sickness
∞ Ethics and Salutogenesis
∞ Anthroposophic Medicine
∞ Diet
∞ Biography Work
∞ Anthroposophic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
∞ The Placebo Effect
∞ Anthroposophic Nursing with Physical Contact and Effort
∞ Education for Special Needs and Social Therapy
∞ Research in Anthroposophic Medicine