What is naturopathy?
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is an alternative system of medicine that centres on the philosophy that the body is an integrated whole of mind, body, and spirit. This whole is more than a simple sum of our body parts, hence the term "holistic" is often associated with our profession. Naturopathic practitioners like us believe that all our different organ systems are intimately linked together and with our mind and emotional well-being. As such, we often approach treatments from the perspective that many ailments develop from a disturbance in this intimate network. Today, naturopathy is a science-based medical practice that uses comprehensive laboratory assessments in its system of therapeutics to identify the body's unique needs.
We describe our treatments as “natural” because they are all designed to respect and strengthen the body’s innate healing capacities. This is what is at the heart of naturopathic medicine: trusting and empowering the body to heal itself. This includes but is not limited to: oral or intravenous vitamins, minerals and/or amino acids to address nutritional deficiencies; herbal medicine or homeopathy to address the causes of illness; acupuncture for pain management; and counselling to help the mind find peace. Often times, our in-house treatments and prescriptions are combined with lifestyle modifications for the patient’s overall better wellness.
"First, do no harm" is an earnest phrase attributed to the famed Ancient Greek physician and "father of medicine,” Hippocrates, and to this date it still serves as the foundational ethical code for the practice of both modern conventional and naturopathic medicine. As physicians and allies of the human body, we do our best to minimize pain and damage to the body’s integrity when administering our treatments. We believe that our bodies carry a "vital force," which can be described as a powerful motivation to sustain life.Naturopathy’s approach to health hinges on this vital force, engaging it in the healing process by using natural, minimally invasive, and minimally toxic therapies. We treat the patient as a whole human being with psycho-spiritual intricacies, not as a mere reduction to a biological specimen. With this wholesome and respectful approach, we can effectively treat illnesses to restore overall health and wellness.
Naturopathic doctors also view themselves as teachers and we believe that the creation of a unified Doctor-Patient - or Teacher-Student - team, wherein we educate the patient on his/her health status and personal therapeutic responsibilities, is the best path towards optimal health results for the patient. Our relationships with our patients are nurtured through compassionate listening and thorough communication. We take our time to comprehensively understand your health concerns within the whole context of your lifestyle background and history. Our assessments are aided by highly-detailed blood or other lab analyses. Only with this multi-level approach are we able to reliably identify root causes that have led to your health condition, and subsequently formulate a therapeutic plan that is unique to you.
In many cases, people are also looking for ways to prevent diseases before they occur and naturopathy offers a variety of science-based solutions to help people maintain their most valuable treasure: health.