WHAT IS NATUROPATHIC HEALTHCARE?
Naturopathic healthcare is a distinct system of family care that skillfully uses ancient therapeutic traditions to restore health. Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) use a variety of therapies to restore and maintain the health of their patients including clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathic medicine, herbology, and lifestyle recommendations. We work to support the body’s innate ability to heal with natural therapeutics by following the guiding principles of naturopathic healthcare:
Principles of Naturopathic Healthcare:
Our work is guided by our strong adherence to our elegant and enduring philosophy which includes:
· Supporting the healing power of nature; we believe in the body’s innate ability to heal.
· Identify and treat the causes. We work to go beyond treating the symptoms of an illness to find the cause of illness whenever possible.
· We aim for the classic tenet: First, do no harm. We use non-invasive and natural methods.
· Educate. We believe that knowledge is power, so we work to educate our clients about healthy eating habits, other healthy lifestyle changes as well as on how to decrease and manage stress. Whenever we can, we try to involve our clients and the parents of our clients in the prevention and treatment at home or in the approaches they can learn to use themselves.
· We believe that our health is determined by physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social and spiritual elements and so aim to treat the whole person.
· We strongly believe in the axiom “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” so we work with our clients to create specific healthy lifestyle plans that take into account personal risk factors, heredity and vulnerability to future disease.
The underpinnings of a naturopathic doctor are found in the following six principles.
The Healing Power of Nature
Naturopathic healthcare recognizes the body's inherent ability to heal itself. Naturopathic doctors identify and remove obstacles to recovery to facilitate this healing ability in clients.
Identify and Remedy Absence or Presence
The naturopathic doctor seeks to identify what is absent in the body that it requires to heal; and/or remove the presence of what is causing illness, rather than merely suppress symptoms.
First Do No Harm
Naturopathic healthcare follows 2 principles:
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Use natural methods which are non-invasive.
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Acknowledge and respect the individual's healing process.
Doctor as Teacher
Naturopathic healthcare practitioners encourage self-responsibility for health. They also acknowledge the therapeutic value inherent in the doctor-client relationship.
Treat the Whole Person
Naturopathic doctors treat each individual by taking into account physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social factors. Since total health also includes spiritual health, naturopathic physicians encourage individuals to pursue their personal spiritual path.
Prevention
Naturopathic doctors emphasize disease prevention, assessment of risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and making appropriate interventions to prevent illness. Naturopathic medicine strives to create a healthy world in which humanity may thrive
Modalities I use as a Naturopath:
Continuous Analysis using Nutritional Applied Kinesiology
Cleanses
Nutritional Therapy and Food Plan Adjustments.
Minerals, Vitamins, Probiotics, and Enzyme Therapy
Rest and sleep
Exercise
Naturopathic manipulation: massage, acupressure, reflexology
Water and hydrotherapy
Clay and mud
Homeopathy
Essential Oils
Bach Flower Remedies
Magnet Therapy (for EMF sensitivity)
Mindfulness, Mediation, The Power of Positive Mindset