What is osteopathy? Osteopathy is a gentle, holistic form of medicine for the treatment of movement restrictions and functional disorders of the body. An osteopath uses the knowledge of anatomy, physiology and embryology to help the organism heal itself with his hands. Osteopathy was developed by the American physician Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917). He assumed that the body forms a functional unit and therefore disturbances in one area (can) affect other areas.