1. Dissatisfaction: Patients are dissatisfied with conventional treatment because it has been ineffective,5,6has produced adverse effects,6,7or is seen as impersonal, too technologically oriented, and/or too costly.615

  2. Need for personal control: Patients seek alternative therapies because they see them as less authoritarian16and more empowering and as offering them more personal autonomy and control over their health care decisions.14,1619

  3. Philosophical congruence: Alternative therapies are attractive because they are seen as more compatible with patients’ values, worldview, spiritual/religious philosophy, or beliefs regarding the nature and meaning of health and illness.1924