Wellness Model

Dr. Herbert Benson envisions a future in which medicine is as sturdy as a three-legged stool, balanced equally by three healing resources: (1) pharmaceutical interventions, (2) surgery and other medical procedures, and (3) self-care approaches such as the relaxation response. Ideally, medicine would call upon self-care for 60 to 90 percent of the everyday problems that patients experience.

For balance, all the three legs of the stool are equally important. Medical, surgical approaches, and self-care are to be used judiciously, they all are invaluable in the overall wellness scene. Medical and surgical interventions are truly needed in a minority of situations when reliance on self-care alone is not judicious; it may in fact prove fatal. On the other hand, self-care approaches such as relaxation response can prevent the need of external interventions or help speed-up recovery from them. The goal should be to promote a healthy balance between self-care approaches such as the relaxation response, stress management, exercise and nutrition on one side and external interventions on the other.