Holistic Psychiatry

Holistic Psychiatry offers a timely rethinking of psychiatry by showing why today’s symptom-based, reductionist models are no longer enough—and what can replace them. Drawing together philosophy, research, clinical practice, and service system design, this book presents a coherent, holistic framework that understands phenomena labeled as mental disorders not as internal defects, but as evolving, context-dependent situations shaped by biology, experience, relationships, and society. It provides a rigorous theoretical foundation, a realistic model of dialogical care, and concrete guidance for reorganizing services, research, and professional roles, including how to implement the World Health Organization’s guidance on community mental health services. Grounded in human rights, empirical evidence, and real-world practice, this book shows how mental health care can become more humane, effective, and sustainable without abandoning scientific responsibility. This book is essential reading for clinicians, researchers, policymakers, students of psychiatry, psychology, and mental health, and anyone concerned with the future of mental health care.