Designing relational models of collaborative integrative medicine that support healing processes.

The concept of optimal healing environments (OHE) includes a variety of elements that require exploration, definition, measurement, and interpretation. One key element is the relationships between healer and patient/client and between healers themselves. These complexities mean that models of OHE that include relationship dynamics as resources in the healing processes need information to help planning, execution and measurement. This paper examines aspects of a proposed model of optimal healing that utilizes relational dynamics as central to healing processes. The dynamics of relationships between healers and clients are critical to the effectiveness of healing as a process of transformation. Conscious examination of healers' emotional availability in relationship-centered care may be important in determining primary roles in delivering care.