The principle of vitalism is based on the holistic concept that the human body is greater than the sum of its parts. Its basic assumption is that there is an intelligent force that creates and sustains all living organisms. This inherent vital principle is distinct from all internal physical and chemical forces.

Vitalism assumes that life is self-determining and self-evolving. That there is an inherent or in-born intelligence within the body that animates, motivates, heals, coordinates and inspires living beings is a basic principle of vitalism. This Wisdom Within guides and directs the life of each individual on his or her path of healing.

Healing is a process of personal evolution, growth, self-development and self-discovery. As a person heals, it brings about a closer connection among mind/body, heart and spirit. Healing gives the individual the opportunity to see himself or herself more clearly, and get more in touch with themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. True healing is a process of feeling more by an increasing awareness of what one is feeling in the moment.

Sometimes when one feels more, the experience is joyful and blissful, and sometimes one faces a very challenging healing experience representing a great opportunity for personal growth. However, in both cases as one fully experiences that awareness, they become more in touch with themselves and consequently more vibrant and alive. It is through the willingness to experience all of our feelings that we create the environment for expressing more of who we really are, our true identity as mind/body and spirit.

Symptoms, in the vitalistic healing model, are viewed as agents of change and a communication from the Inner Wisdom. The symptom, whether physical, mental-emotional or spiritual is an awareness that change is needed at some level or levels in our life experience. Judging the symptom as good or bad is a subjective interpretation rather than an objective fact. The fact of the matter is that symptoms are neither "good nor bad", as they are simply an awareness of a need for change.

Change is inherent to and an integral part of the healing process, as in order to heal, the individual must be open to change. This willingness to change enables one to become free of past behaviors, attitudes and belief systems, which impede personal growth and development. To become a more emotionally mature and mentally clear (sane) individual there must be a willingness to let go of immature behavior and unclear (insane) thinking. "Insanity" could be defined as repeating the same unworkable behavior patterns over and over again and expecting different results. For if we do what we've always done, we will be what we have always been, and get what we have always gotten.

Resisting or refusing to change means we will continue to be who we are not, which keeps us from the freedom inherent in becoming who we truly are, which is pure, unconditional love. Therefore, true healing involves the willingness to transform one's life physically, emotionally and spiritually. This process of healing and transformation is guided by one's Inner Wisdom, which communicates to the educated mind via the body's energy systems. When this communication from the Innate Intelligence is unimpeded, the individual can chose to listen, and thereby transform their life. And, in order for this healing transformation to take place, the body's energy systems must be clear of impedance so that the Inner Wisdom can fully express, itself.

Symptoms, whether physical, mental or emotional agents of change, indicate there is an impedance to energy flow. Severe impedance to energy flow result, in an imbalance in the individual's energy systems. This imbalance may express itself in the form of a condition or an illness (physical, mental or emotional). When the educated mind listens to the Innate communication and chooses to undergo a process of change, it brings about healing; a closer connection of body/mind and spirit. When unheeded, the awareness in the form of a symptom or condition is a wake up call, communicating to us the need to initiate the change needed in the healing process.

To attempt to symptomatically intervene in the awareness part of the healing process may interfere and delay the course of healing. Therefore, attempting to stimulate or inhibit the body to achieve a specific symptomatic change could interfere with the process of healing, by altering the body-mind, in an attempt to change feelings of awareness.

Healing is greatly facilitated when there is clear communication from the Inner Wisdom that expresses over the body's energy systems. Therefore, healing arts that address freeing up impedance to the free flow of energy can facilitate the healing process. However, it is always important to acknowledge that the healing art is not the healing, but the vehicle for the healing. All anyone can do is arrange the conditions so God can do the healing, which is the spiritual link whereby the healing facilitator loses his/her ego, and takes no credit for the healing. Healing is an inside job, as it comes from the healing energy within the individual. The healing facilitator creates the climate for healing by "encouraging" the recipient to affirm and claim his or her own inner power in the healing process.

Although the individual may have previously had his/her condition diagnosed and named, a healing facilitator will always empower the recipient to take responsibility for his/her life experience. Naming the condition could take away the person's responsibility for their experience, if they choose to see themselves as a condition with a person, rather than a person with a condition. Naming the condition also gives more attention to the condition, as can dwelling on the symptom or condition. This mind-set may amplify, aggravate and or exacerbate the symptom or condition, for where the attention goes the mental activity flows, and anything one gives more attention to may expand.

The naming of a condition may also empower the condition and shift the person’s reliance away from his or her own innate capacity to heal. Healing is empowering, and involves claiming responsibility for us, which then empowers one to accept responsibility for all their life experiences. Naming the condition in situations of acute or chronic severe symptoms, or where crisis intervention or life saving emergency procedures is involved, may help the person recognize where they are in that moment in time. This can give the person an insight about that life experience so that they can then move ahead and initiate healing. For the recognition of whom, and where we are in the healing process in that moment in time, can then help us to choose to make whatever changes are necessary to heal.

Trust and love are the foundations of vitalism and the healing process. Trust is in the Innate Intelligence of the body as the vehicle of the emotions, mind and spirit. The Wisdom Within communicates by way of energy systems in the body, guiding and directing the growth and development of the individual physically, emotionally and spiritually. Therefore, trust is inherent to the individual's own inner potential for growth and development in the healing process. To trust the body's Resident Intelligence involves the assurance and acknowledgement that the Wisdom Within will express itself for the highest good of that individual. Trust involves awareness that all the healing power and force of the universe in dwells the Innate Intelligence of the body. Trust is intrinsic to the knowing that the power that made the body heals the body.

Trust is in knowing that at our deepest level, we are pure expressions of Divine love. At the essence of our being we live by Divine love, which animates the physical body. It is the experience of Divine love, which connects us to all other beings and all of life. For when we experience pure love we realize our oneness, our wholeness and feel complete in and of ourselves. It is pure love which gives rise to the resonant bond between the healing facilitator and the healing recipient. It is the real sensation of pure love between agent and percipient that creates the environment for true healing.

The healing environment is further created through the compassion of the healing facilitator, and their ability to empathize with the healing recipient. Empathy is the ability to identify with the personal needs and life challenges of another individual on the healing path. It is through this caring and sharing in the healing process that true healing takes place. The healing facilitator then feels for the healing recipient without feeling sorry for them in their healing challenge. Feeling sorry for someone makes him or her a victim of sympathetic pity, not empathetic rapport. And growth and change in the healing process can only take place when one takes responsibility for their life and health.

In order for the healing facilitator to empower the healing recipient to grow and change, they must come from a place of empathy, not sympathy. Ultimately sympathy, feeling sorry for someone, is rooted in fear, fear that the healing challenge of another may become our life experience in the future. It is through empathy then that the healing facilitator can act as a guide, who walks through the healing process with the recipient, sharing with them the potential paths to wholeness. The healing initiator also encourages the individual to follow their own trail, directed by their own inner resources in the healing experience.

Everything one experiences in their life defines their current perceptions, responses and reactions to the healing process. Therefore, the healing facilitator initiates a process whereby the recipient's Innate Intelligence evaluates their needs and facilitates growth and development. As the vitalistic practitioner encourages the individual to listen to their own Inner Wisdom, a process of self-healing and self-discovery is brought about. This encouragement facilitates the recipient to trust their Innate Intelligence, which further inspires their growth and development.

Healing then becomes a life long journey of self-discovery, self-empowerment and transformation for both the healing facilitator and the recipient.

For in a true healing relationship, both heal and both are healed, as no one can facilitate healing without being healed, for when we give, we receive.