Is the effect of alternative medical treatment only a placebo effect?

A common assertion about alternative medical technologies is that their results are solely built upon the placebo effect. The reason for this assertion is due to the facts that the placebo effect is perceived as an irrational quantity, and that the placebo effect is considered unspecific. If it is possible to rehabilitate the placebo effect by interpreting it as a specific effect, what consequences would it have for school medicine and the view of certain alternative medical technologies? To answer these questions it is necessary to investigate just what sort of phenomenon the placebo effect is, and what determines its dimensions.