Contrasting the Western medical model: Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners’ holistic perspectives on mental health and illness.

(, emotions-will), viewing wellness as dynamic balance rather than absence of pathology. Mental illness is interpreted as a state of imbalance arising from interactions among internal and external conditions. Treatment philosophy and principles emphasize prevention, pattern differentiation, holistic root treatment, and multimodal interventions. These findings highlight TCM's potential as a health-promoting paradigm that reorients psychotherapy toward a holistic, person-centered, and preventive population health-oriented framework, offering valuable insights for advancing mental health care beyond symptom reduction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).