5 Tips to Save Money on Holistic Medicine

Although holistic therapies are the oldest form of medicine still in use today, treatments are most often not covered by health insurance providers. This poses a challenge for folks who need this important complementary care, but who do not have the expendable income to cover these healthcare expenses. Finding affordable healthcare can be difficult whether or not you have health insurance and, unfortunately, many people forego the care they need under the assumption that they cannot afford necessary treatments while still managing to cover basic living expenses for their family.

Prioritizing our health and wellness needs is paramount to our quality of life, as well as our ability to meet the needs of our families. We absolutely must find ways to take care of ourselves in order to be able to care for others and to be our best selves in the roles we occupy in life.

As a holistic wellness practitioner, I am all to familiar with the rising cost of healthcare and how the cost of allopathic (Western) medicine increasingly impacts the ability to afford important complementary care that can vastly improve health and wellness. Personally, I rarely charge the rates I have listed on my website and I have never turned away a client for their inability to pay. While not all practitioners follow this policy, there are many of us who work to make holistic therapies as accessible as possible through working with clients to come up with a rate or bartering agreement that will fit their budget.

To assist you in finding affordable holistic healthcare, here are five tips that are sure to save you money and help you receive the complementary care that you need.

Shop around. One of the best ways to find affordable holistic healthcare is to do a little research upfront to find practitioners that offer services within your budget. Many practitioners offer discounted services, sliding scale fees based on income, first time client discounts and multiple service or session discounts. Like most industries, there are a wide variety of practitioners offering a range of prices. For example, if you look online for energy healers or Reiki practitioners, you will find prices ranging from $15 to $150 per session.Check out online holistic directories and advertising sites such as Craig's List to find practitioners in your area.

Help others learn. New practitioners often charge less for their services than more established providers and are more likely to offer discounted services in exchange for gaining experience in their field. Holistic medicine schools also offer low cost services to the public in order to provide practice clients for their students. Schools that train massage therapists, acupuncturists, herbalists, nutritional counselors and naturopathic physicians often have specific days for walk-ins or appointments. To ensure that you will receive quality holistic care, students provide treatments under professional supervision.

Barter. Many individual practitioners are willing to provide holistic healthcare services in exchange for products or services. Think of what you have to offer and email or call the practitioner to see if they might be interested in working out an exchange. A massage therapist might be willing to provide a series of sessions in exchange for website development, or an acupuncturist may be willing to provide treatments in exchange for landscaping. Whatever it is that you have to offer, it's likely that someone is looking for it. Not all practitioners are willing to barter, but it's worth the effort to contact them, or put an ad on a site like Craig's List listing what you are looking for and what you have to offer.

Consider group or distance sessions. Many practitioners offer group or distance sessions that generally are much less expensive than in-person, individual sessions. Of course, this does not work for some holistic therapies like massage or acupuncture, but for other services, distance or group sessions are a cost-effective means of delivering services that will benefit clients on a budget. For example, nutritional counseling, holistic wellness consulting and energy healing or Reiki can all be effectively accomplished through distance sessions, and group sessions for energy healing or Reiki can still be quite effective.

Attend free seminars and holistic health fairs. Most major cities and many smaller towns have holistic health fairs where practitioners offer services at a greatly discounted rate or at no charge at all. This allows them to connect with potential clients and allows you to receive free or discounted treatments while meeting and researching practitioners. This is a great way to get a feel for a holistic practitioner and determine which complementary therapies might work best for you before scheduling regular priced sessions that may end up being a waste of time.