Naturopathic Medicine is the system of primary health care which works with the individuals efforts towards the optimal expression of physiological, physical, and mental/emotional health.
WHAT IS A NATUROPATH?
A Naturopath is a person who applies treatment modalities based on the principles of Naturopathic Medicine.
Naturopathy is an approach to health care which aims to promote, restore and maintain health. The following principles underpin the practise of Naturopathy:
- The Healing Power of Nature or Vis Medicatrix Naturae: There is a 'vital force' or 'life force' which drives the self-healing or self-correcting mechanisms of the body;
- The Triad of Health, which describes the connection and interaction between the structural, biochemical and mental/emotional components of all living beings. Dysfunction in one area invariably leads to disruption elsewhere and
- The Uniqueness of the Individual: People are genetically, bio chemically, structurally and emotionally different from one another. Each person responds in a unique way to influences whether they are mental/emotional, structural, nutritional, social or cultural.
Naturopaths also recognise that:
- Health is more than the absence of disease. It is dependent upon a multitude of factors and is a reflection of a harmonious interaction with our environment;
- Acute disease processes are different from chronic processes. The acute response is the body’s attempt to restore health often through enhanced processes of elimination. Suppression of such healing processes contributes to the potential for chronic breakdown;
- Disease processes involve activation of the body’s homeostatic mechanisms. Health is homeostasis - a dynamic equilibrium;
- The individual requires suitable foods for nourishment, clean water, fresh air and sunlight, as well as appropriate exercise, rest and relaxation and
- Prevention is preferable to cure.
