It seems the notion that having a positive attitude toward the therapy you are currently receiving will enhance its therapeutic effect has become a perceived truism. That is, being enthusiastic, believing that this particular therapeutic approach will work, will actually help to alleviate or correct your health problem. Whether this involves embarking upon an exclusion diet to discover allergies, acupuncture to relieve migraines, or meditation for stress reduction, the common wisdom states that embracing your treatment approach fully will help to bring about a positive outcome.

This issue of Positive Health carries an extended special feature regarding Nursing in Complementary Medicine, to acknowledge and honour the vanguard role that nurses are playing in taking complementary therapies and adapting them to everyday treatment and care within the NHS, midwifery and private nursing. One of the main criticisms often levelled at complementary medicine is that its patients tend to be those who are well-off, willing and able to pay for private treatment, and that its practitioners do not have to work within the somewhat straitjacketed conditions of the NHS. Progress in tackling tough policy decisions and guidelines has been genuinely impressive as can be seen in the articles spanning pages 14–33.