What does a Naturopath do and how is different to seeing a doctor?
First up let me say that Naturopaths love to work along side doctors and will ALWAYS refer a client back to see their GP with even the smallest concern so that all bases are covered. We envision a world where there is mutual respect and a common goal of working together for the best possible outcome for a client. Our advice does not negate that of your doctors.
A Naturopath is a health care practitioner who is trained to understand the body and all its disease states (Symptomology & Pathology) and how to identify them but has a goal of addressing the underlying causes of disease as opposed to just treating symptoms.
The main focus of many mainstream pharmaceutical problems is to treat the symptoms and send you on your way – often for a lifetime of taking the drug that you have been given.
A Naturopath will use dietary changes, nutritional supplements, food as medicine, herbal medicine, lifestyle advice and sometimes homeopathy to bring about balance in a person they are helping. For example, if you see your GP for reoccurring ear infections you are just going on a joy ride of taking antibiotics to resolve each infection. A naturopath will use specific herbs chose for you individually to help support your immune system and clear the infection.
Another big difference is that a Naturopath spends a much longer time “case taking” and this involves not only counselling and actually listening but really giving your full attention and hearing what is going on for a person. This in and of itself can be very satisfying and healing to a client as in this busy world we rarely have anyone that listens to our whole story and understand exactly how we got to the state we are in both emotionally and personally. I personally take great joy in hearing my client’s stories and journey as I find this one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. I have no doubt it plays a role in their healing.
Of course, the biggest difference is between seeing a doctor and seeing a Naturopath is the types of treatments. A Naturopath is going to dig deeper to help work out what is going on with your health. For example, let’s consider a case of bad reflux. Your GP is going to give you a Protein Pump Inhibitor which unfortunately is going to weaken your digestion and contribute to SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and send you on your way while the Naturopath is going to look into your diet and possibly do some food sensitivity testing to work out what you are reacting to. But most importantly they are going to give you a range of herbs that do a number of things to strengthen your digestion, support liver function (often needed in digestive issues), reduce stress (we have many wonderful herbs for stress that are safe and effective), balance stomach acid and support the health of the microbes in your digestive system to help the reflux. Herbal medicine is AMAZING at supporting and strengthening digestion and has been used in many cultures for thousands of years. This is truly an important aspect of dealing with any reflux, food sensitivities and digestive issues. So, you can see you can just treat the symptoms or you can work on improving your health. I can tell you the best out come is going to be the naturopathic one. And that’s why I love Naturopathy.
I will add that largely Complementary Medicine has been intentionally suppressed over thousands of years and this still continues today. Meanwhile pharmaceutical companies completely dominate our health care system and hold an extreme amount of power. Even here in Australia we have seen the loss of health fund rebates for seeing a Naturopath and the closing down of alternative medicine training in our universities. This is a massive backward step for us and our health choices. In many ways pharmacy has become the new religion. Lets hope for a more balanced future for all our sakes.
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