What is the difference between Alternative Complementary and Integrative Medicine?

The term Alternative Medicine: If something is alternative you have to choose between one or another.  Most of the time, optimal care requires more than one approach (a combination of approaches) that often produces better results.

The term Complementary Medicine: If something is complementary it is only a meresupportive (accessory) role to Conventional Medicine.

The term Integrative Medicine fulfills the need of a more accurate term. It involves the understanding of the interaction of the mind, body and spirit and how to interpret this relationship in the dynamics of health and disease.  It distinguishes healing from curing, understanding that healing is always possible even when curing is not.