Naturopathic Medicine
What is Naturopathic Medicine, and How can it fit into Your Healthcare
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what is naturopathic medicine. So I thought I’d take a minute and share what it is with you.
Naturopathic Medicine is a system of health-oriented medicine that stresses health maintenance and disease prevention.
The practice of Naturopathic Medicine is an ever-expanding body of knowledge that draws from diverse traditional practices and modern scientific resources.
It is not composed of a single modality but of an array of healing practices that focus on the individual’s integrity and circumstances. As a result, a primary goal of a Naturopathic Physician is to restore the body’s natural function through treatments that enhance and support the body’s innate healing ability.
The individual is viewed as an integrated whole, and the disease symptoms are indicators of improper functioning.
The philosophy of naturopathic medicine draws its’ wisdom from as far back as Hippocrates, with twentieth-century naturopathy more recently rooted in Central Europe.
7 Principles
This comprehensive system of natural medicine has built its’ foundation on six principles:
- The Healing Power of Nature, Vis Medicatrix Naturae. One of the most time-honored principles in the belief that the body has considerable power to heal itself.
2. Find the Cause, Tolle Causam. Every illness has an underlying causative factor contributing to disease that may be avoidable and thus preventable.
3. First Do No Harm, Primum Non Nocere. Non-invasive treatments that minimize harmful side effects are the preferred course of action.
4. Treat the Whole Person. This results in a multifactorial therapeutic approach addressing the complex interaction between variable factors
5. Preventative Medicine. Principles that support health and prevent minor illnesses from developing into more serious or chronic degenerative diseases are addressed.
6. Wellness. This is inherent in everyone. If wellness is recognized and experienced by the individual, healing will occur more rapidly on one level or another.
7. Doctor as Teacher, Docere. The principle objective of naturopathic medicine is to educate and emphasize self-responsibility for health while recognizing the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship.
Various Therapeutic Methods
Various therapeutic methods and treatments are employed to work in harmony with the body’s healing process.
They include clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy (use of water treatments), physical medicine, and lifestyle counseling.
To the uninformed, naturopathic medicine may appear to be a fad. But it is becoming clear that more and more people are looking for the type of health care that naturopathic doctors can and are supplying.
Well-Trained, Accredited Doctorate Program
We are well-trained in an accredited four-year doctorate program, but we also work with a set of principles that can support the individual, the community, and the environment.
If you would like support, that is what I am trained to do. Provide the big picture of health. You and schedule an appointment now if you like.
