Emotional Wellness

Ancient cultures throughout the world have recognized that emotional vibrancy and well-being spring from a life lived in balance -- a life sustained by whole foods, rich with both energizing and calming activity, and emphasizing one's connection with community and nature. In such a context, the spirit is strong and resilient, with the capacity to embrace and grow from pain and loss, which are natural conditions of human life.

In modern-day culture, which is often deprived of the elements of a balanced life, emotional wellness may be harder to achieve. When physical injury, interpersonal loss or chronic illness enters one's life, nurturing the spirit becomes especially challenging. Sometimes, a sense of losing one's spirit occurs, which may manifest as anxiety, depression or difficulty taking care of oneself.

The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF Medical Center offers a number of services to enhance each person's capacity to promote his or her own emotional well-being, as well as their self-awareness, especially when confronted with inevitable stresses of life. We concentrate on a person's strengths and their ability to use their own resources for self-care.

Our approach stems from integrative psychiatry, which uses both conventional and complementary medicine remedies in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Osher Center practitioners are attentive to the many dimensions that affect both distress and psychological wellness in their clients. These include a person's physical, emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, nutritional, environmental and spiritual dimensions.

For more information or to make an appointment, please contact the Osher Center:

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated August 29, 2007