WHY CHOOSE NATUROPATHIC CARE?
Naturopathic medicine stresses the importance of prevention, finding and treating the root cause of an illness or chronic condition, and treating the whole person. You’ll find that in my care, I take time to get to know every patient — addressing both your physical and emotional health. Rather than mask symptoms of chronic illness or discomfort, we’ll uncover the root cause and find a treatment plan that is specific to your body and lifestyle.
"Traditional medicine
hasn’t worked for me."
Many women come to me frustrated because despite traditional medications and treatment, their condition hasn’t improved, or they’re experiencing side effects from the medications they were prescribed. Others were told “there’s nothing wrong” as lab results indicate they are “normal,” despite how they actually feel. If this sounds familiar and you’re eager for alternative treatment that looks at your symptoms holistically, naturopathic care may be for you.
“I want to optimize my health, naturally.”
Naturopathic medicine provides you with tools to optimize your health and stay well. For you, maybe that means living a more balanced life, restoring the energy you once had, or preparing your body to get pregnant. Or maybe it means knowing just what your body needs to feel good each and every day.
What training does an ND have?
A Naturopathic doctor (ND) completes a four-year, graduate-level program and receives the same education as medical doctors in all of the basic sciences, labs, diagnosing skills and physical exam skills. Naturopathic training, however, emphasizes holistic and natural treatments, focusing on disease prevention and optimizing wellness. Along with learning pharmaceuticals, Naturopathic doctors are trained in clinical nutrition, homeopathy, botanical medicine, physical medicine, psychology and counseling. Upon completion of the medical program, a Naturopathic doctor must pass professional board exams similar to those taken by medical doctors to be licensed by a state as a general practice physician.
The six principles of Naturopathic medicine
Naturopathic medicine is based on six main principles for helping people reach wellness. We think of wellness not as the absence of disease, but as a state characterized by positive emotion, thought and action — a feeling of balance in your life. To support your wellness, I follow these principles of Naturopathic medicine:
1. The healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae). Your body has an innate and intelligent ability to heal itself. As a Naturopathic doctor, I will facilitate the healing process through helping a patient identify and remove the obstacles to recovery (such as a poor diet), and replacing them with healthy habits.
2. Identify and treat the root causes (tolle causam). Instead of eliminating or suppressing symptoms, I will seek to identify and treat the root causes of illness, helping to augment a person’s healing process and decreasing the chances of symptoms from returning.
3. First do no harm (primum non nocere). Our main principle of minimizing the risk of harm to the patient centers around three concepts. As a Naturopathic doctor, I will:
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Use methods and medicinal substances that have few or no side effects.
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Avoid, when possible, the suppression of symptoms, such as decreasing a fever when a fever is created by the body to fight an infection.
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Acknowledge and respect each individual’s body and healing process, customizing the diagnosis and treatment of illness using the least force necessary for each patient.
4. Doctor as teacher (Docere). I believe in educating and empowering the patient to take responsibility for their own health. I will work closely with each person to help them with nurturing themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually.
5. Treat the whole person. Each individual’s treatment takes into account all of the factors that can affect health — physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social and spiritual. During each visit, I will address the different components to create an individualized treatment plan for each patient.
6. Prevention. Being proactive in maintaining one’s health is the key to preventing illness in the future. I will look at a patient’s risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to different diseases. I will support them in moving them away from illness and towards optimal health.