What is Naturopathy
Health is not simply the absence of disease or pain. It is a state of balance and harmony between the body and the mind of a person. In health a person should be able to respond to events such as accidents, infections or emotional stress, deal with these events and restore itself to optimal health afterwards. The majority of people are not in full health, but are carrying an accumulation of the effects of different traumatic events that have happened to them during their life.
Naturopathy is a system of preventative and therapeutic medicine, which is based on the recognition that the body possesses an inherent ability to heal itself. The healthy body is capable of maintaining a harmonious existence within its environment. This state of equilibrium is subject to certain laws, the deviation from which results in disease, and the methods used by naturopaths are designed to restore and to promote the body’s own functional ability.
Naturopathic treatment comprises nutrition and dietetics, fasting, hydrotherapy, physical therapy, counselling, relaxation, and rest in order to promote the body’s inherent self-healing mechanisms. It considers the physical, biochemical, and psychological aspects of the person as an individual within his or her environment.
The Naturopath uses orthodox medical methods of diagnosis, together with a physical examination for structural problems, and nutritional and lifestyle assessments to arrive at a diagnosis from which to formulate a treatment plan.
Principles of Naturopathy
The principles of Naturopathy were first used by the Hippocratic School of Medicine in about 400 BC. The Greek philosopher Hippocrates believed in considering the whole person in regards to finding a cause of disease, and using the laws of nature to induce cure.
It was from this original school of thought that Naturopathy derived the following principles:
- Do no harm.
- Employ methods that support the body’s healing power and self-correcting mechanisms.
- Deal with underlying causes of dysfunction where possible.
- Identify and treat the cause –physical, mental or emotional.
- Reduce the burden or load by identifying and treating contributory factors.
- Prevention is better than cure – a naturopath may recommend removing specific toxic substances and situations from a person’s lifestyle to prevent the onset of further disease.
- Treat the whole person – when preparing a treatment plan, all aspects of a person’s being are taken into consideration.
- Attempt to address all aspects of the Naturopathic Triad of Health.
- Employ simple treatments before more complex, where possible.
- Support patients’ efforts in gaining and maintaining control of their own health.
What to expect
Because Naturopathy is above all an approach to health care, there are many treatment modalities which can be employed. They are always applied in a way which works with the body’s own healing efforts and are used in accordance with the principles of naturopathic treatment. Treatments may primarily be concerned with the biochemical, structural or mental/emotional aspects of health depending upon the nature of the problem.
The core naturopathic modalities are:
- Clinical dietetics and applied nutrition
- Detoxification techniques
- Hydrotherapy
- Physical Therapy e.g. osteopathy, naturopathic physical manipulation, manual lymphatic drainage, massage and other soft tissue techniques
- Psychotherapeutic techniques
- Lifestyle advice
- Medical Herbalism
- Homeopathy
Some Old Words of Wisdom
“….. you have heard eminent physicians say to a patient who comes to them with bad eyes, that they cannot cure his eyes by themselves, but if his eyes are to be cured, his head must be treated: and then again they say that to think of curing the head alone, and not the rest of the body also, is the height of folly. And arguing in this way they apply their methods to the whole body, and try to treat and heal the whole and the part together. And this is the reason why the cure of many diseases is unknown to the physicians of Hellas, because they are ignorant of the whole, which ought to be studied also; for the part can never be well unless the whole is well.”
Extract from a letter written by Socrates to Plato (c. 400 BC)