Naturopaths are looking for ways to help their patients with natural medicine. Naturopathic medicine is a science-based tradition that promotes well-being by identifying the unique aspects of each patient and then employing non-toxic natural therapies to restore their physiological, psychological, and structural balance.
The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) defines naturopathic medicine as: 'Naturopathic medicine is distinguished by the principles on which its practice is based. These principles are continually re-examined in the light of scientific advances. The techniques of naturopathic medicine include modern and traditional, scientific and also empirical methods' (AANP, 1998).
What is the training that naturopaths have
Naturopathic professionals are trained as general practitioners specializing in natural medicine. They cooperate with all other branches of medical science, as well as in referring patients to other professionals for diagnosis or treatment whenever necessary. Naturopaths have their professional studies to obtain a university degree. It requires graduate-level study in conventional medical sciences, such as cardiology, biochemistry, gynecology, immunology, pathology, pharmacology, pediatrics, and neurology.
In addition to the standard medical curriculum, naturopathic students must take courses in natural therapeutics. This includes nutrition therapies, botanical medicine, homeopathy, physical medicine, exercise therapy, lifestyle counseling, and hydrotherapy, which is the use of water to treat a disorder or disease.
The principles of naturopathy
Naturopathic medicine follows a series of fundamental principles:
- The healing power of nature. Naturopaths rely on the body's inherent ability to maintain and restore its own health. Naturopathic practitioners facilitate this healing process by removing obstacles to healing by identifying treatments to enhance healing.
- Identify and treat the cause. Naturopathic doctors treat the underlying causes of the disease and not just the symptoms of the disease. Symptoms are an external manifestation of an internal imbalance due to any combination of physical, mental, or emotional causes. Managing symptoms can be important, but it is more important not to ignore the underlying cause of the disease, because it may be the key to improving the patient.
- Never harm the patient. A naturopathic treatment plan uses therapies that are gentle, non-invasive, effective, and have no side effects. A conscious effort is made to use methods that are comfortable for the patient.
- Physician as a teacher of the patient. The Latin root for doctor is 'docere', which means 'to teach'. The main function of naturopathic doctors is to educate, train and motivate patients to take more personal responsibility for their health by adopting a healthy attitude, lifestyle and a diet that benefits them in health. It is more effective to teach patients to avoid health problems than to send them medicine alone.
- Treat the person as a unique being. Naturopathic physicians identify specific weaknesses or dysfunctions in their patients and tailor treatment based on what happens to the individual patient. It is the patient who has the need for treatment, not the disease state or symptom.
- Naturopathic physicians are interested in finding and treating symptoms characteristics that define the patient rather than the common symptoms that define the disease. For them it is more important to know what type of patient has a disease rather than what type of disease a patient has.
- There is no better cure than good prevention. It is much easier and cheaper to prevent a disease than to treat it. Naturopathic physicians evaluate both subjective and objective information necessary to discover potential susceptibilities to future disease states in patients. They can recommend different lifestyles or nutritional supplements to prevent disease in a patient and improve their health.
If you like naturopathy, don't think much more about it and start looking for the perfect place to start your training, surely you can become a great naturopath!