Glossary: Integrative Medicine and Nutrition

Tao

Pronounced “dow,” a Chinese word meaning “way” that represents the eternal essence of the universe, a concept that gave rise to the religion of Taoism.

Telomeres

A compound structure at the end of a chromosome. Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes from becoming frayed or tangled. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres become slightly shorter, eventually preventing cell division and leading to cell death.

Therapeutic Touch

An energy therapy in which the hands are placed on, or close to, a patient, in order to identify and heal the imbalances in the patient’s energy field.

Traditional Medicine

The sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

Trance

A somnolent state (as of deep hypnosis) often associated with the theta brain wave.

Transference

The redirection of feelings and desires and especially of those unconsciously retained from childhood toward an authority figure.

Transpersonal

Experiences beyond the personal that incorporate transcendent and spiritual experiences. The transpersonal can intersect altered states of consciousness, anomalous cognition, and consciousness practices like meditation and prayer, as well as the use of entheogenic substances (psychedelics). 

Trigger

An act or event that initiates or precipitates a reaction or series of reactions.