The Quest for Holism and Integration: Healing, Wellness, and Complementary Medicine, 1870-2020

On December 18, 2025, Dr. Stahnisch gave the last paper in the colloquium on the history of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard University’s Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. It was dedicated to the memory of Dr. David G. Satin (1933–2025), who passed away this fall and who organized this central colloquium in the field for the last 36 years. Frank Stahnisch presented current work from this Research and Scholarship Leave at Dartmouth College, which examines the last 150 years of holistic or integrated medicine, as combining conventional and alternative therapies within the mainstream of academic medicine. The paper specifically addressed the "life reform movement" of the late 19th century as it answered to the challenging cultural problems of 19th century urbanization and industrialization processes. Also, the relationship of medical progress and social frustrations during the interwar period was examined, as these provided the context for the great public health exhibitions, 1919–1929. The final case example centered around the impact of Weimar medical modernities on the development of the rehabilitative medicine field, 1930–1951/2 and the role that émigré physicians and medical scientists took in its creation also in North America. Generally, the paper investigated the wellness and integrative health approaches in these different periods, asking how they were contributing to medicine on the one hand and on the other hand why they failed, and why it took so long to find integrated answers in the health care field.