The Article in Brief

Background: Medicine is a healing profession but until now, the profession has not defined “healing.” The purpose of this study was to develop a definition of healing based on interviews of leading figures in medicine and holistic health.
What This Study Found: Healing can be defined as “the personal experience of the transcendence of suffering.” Wholeness, narrative (the patient’s life story), and spirituality are a part of healing.
Implications:
* Suffering can cause the person experiencing it to feel separate from herself/himself and from society. By sharing suffering, doctors and patients can create meaning and reduce the sufferer’s feeling of separation.
* Doctors can be better healers by recognizing, diagnosing, minimizing, relieving, and helping patients go beyond suffering.