Complementary or alternative therapies are becoming increasingly popular with patients, yet doctors and other conventional healthcare practitioners may be slow to catch up with this trend. Lake & Spiegel have edited this fascinating book which tries to narrow the philosophical gap between the disease- and symptom-oriented Western medical approach and a holistic approach to mental health rooted mainly, but not exclusively, in Eastern tradition. The combination of an evidence-based approach with a philosophical and historical perspective conveys an argument for truly integrative mental healthcare that may even convince the toughest conventional and alternative hardliners. For instance, if homoeopathy and its resort to particle physics remains counter-intuitive and unacceptable to most scientific minds, it is important to remember that it was born from the observation that many then contemporary conventional treatments were not only ineffective but often unkind and at times draconian. This not only strikes a chord with psychiatry's turbulent history but also with the increasing realisation in modern psychiatric practice that side-effect reduction and physical well-being must be an integral part of mental healthcare.

For me, the section on spirituality, meditation and mind–body practices was particularly impressive. As pointed out in the book, some of these techniques have already been successfully integrated into conventional psychiatric treatments such as dialectical behaviour therapy. In everyday life, experience of religion and spirituality remain powerful motivating forces for human perception and behaviour so that treatment approaches that ignore this fundamental determinant of the human condition may be obviously limited. Also, this section is relevant for those clinicians who practise psychiatry in transcultural settings.

Most importantly, the authors do not endorse clinical risk-taking and throughout the book there are ample warnings about unproven and potentially unsafe practices. These warnings are put into an appropriate medico-legal context and may help clinicians to reflect about their own regulatory frameworks when practising integrative medicine. As shown in this book, evidence for the effectiveness and safety of complementary treatments must be meticulously collated. However, relying on empirical evidence of ‘what is known’ in the face of a frequent lack of proof of principle ‘of what is understood’, ^{Reference Deutsch1} means that the evidence presented in this book must be complemented by updated evidence from reliable internet sources such as Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (www.naturalmedicines.com) in view of the rapidly expanding research in this field.

This book gives an expertly written and concise introduction to a range of complementary and alternative treatments in mental health and may serve as a truly inspirational guide to anybody wishing to expand the boundaries of conventional psychiatric practice.