The Tenants of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic Medicine is an eclectic profession with roots in many places. In today’s diverse landscape of health and wellness, “natural medicine”, “functional medicine”, “holistic medicine”, “herbal medicine”, “integrative medicine”, “complementary and alternative medicine” would be all be appropriate terms to use to describe naturopathic medicine.
A common joke in naturopathic medicine school is that if you ask 10 different naturopathic doctors (NDs) for a treatment plan on a case, you’ll get 11 different answers. Which is to say, there is a large range of how practitioners engage with the medicine and apply it to their patients. There are a some common foundations that all NDs can agree upon and they are the key tenants of the medicine.
The Tenants of Naturopathic Medicine
First Do No Harm (Primum Non Nocere):
Harm can certainly mean medications with side effects or missing an important diagnosis. But doing harm also speaks to me about what ideas am I fueling with my recommendations and do those have a harmful effect? For example, early in my practice, like many functional medicine practitioners, I often ran food sensitivity tests on people to identify potential food sensitivities. What I came to discover in doing this is that the process of identifying food sensitivities in some people would trigger anxiety and fear of food in some people. They would be so concerned about “eating the wrong thing” or the possibility for a symptom reaction that, more stress and dysfunction was created. Unintentionally, I was doing some harm, despite my rational thought of gathering objective information. Sometimes there is more harm and stress in over restriction than there is in occasional indulgence. Upon refection I learned that one should tread carefully when making black/white statements about food, as they may have hidden harms.
The Healing Power of Nature (Vis Medicatrix Naturae)
This one speaks to more the philosophy or even “faith” present in the medicine. When you get a cut on your hand, you (or the doctor) doesn’t need to “do” anything for it to heal. All that needs to be “done” is get out of the way and let the body heal itself. To the extent that anything needs to be “done,” the work is to remove the obstacles to cure (for example remove infection or add stitches to eliminate the structural barriers to healing in our example) and support they body to heal. Supporting the body often can look like providing adequate nutrition, stress management, sleep/rest, and organ specific attention to focus on the systems that may need it (like supporting the immune system in our cut hand example.)
Identify and Treat the Cause (Tolle Causam)
Naturopathic doctors and functional medicine doctors are great at this idea. Identifying the root cause is a big goal and idea that many of us strive for. Thoughtful, comprehensive and state-of-the-art lab testing exists and can be quite useful. It’s also expensive and can lead one to start running down rabbit holes of stress. Admittedly, finding and treating the root cause, can be bit of an impossible project. What is really a true cause? It always seems possible to repeatedly ask the question, “what causes that?” and go deeper and deeper. What causes that eczema skin rash? Hidden inflammation in the gut. What causes that? Poor diet and food sensitivities. What causes that? Stress, busy lifestyle, emotions, genetics, dysfunctional food systems, disconnection from natural rhythms and rituals and community. What causes that? Modern life, capitalism. etc… It sometimes feels like it’s turtles all the way down. Or rather, the causes because too big or great for one person to tackle. So yes, I think treating the cause is more effective than putting suppressive band-aids on symptoms. However, a broader appreciation of what is that root cause, might help us find new and effective tools for solving our health problems.
Treat the Whole Person (Holism)
People are complicated and more than just their thyroid, gut symptom or skin rash. So, of course, we want to consider all the things in a person’s life that might be affecting their health as part of a holistic approach. Mind-body and also psychospiritual perspectives can be extremely useful in addressing chronic health concerns. Another expression of treating the whole person, is appreciating that health and healing may be only one of many priorities for a person. Time, energy, budget and motivation may all be factors at play. So to me, treating the whole person, is also about meeting someone where they are at, and working with them without judgement, inclusive of possible limitations is capacity, budget or bandwidth.
Doctor As Teacher (Docere)
I love this one and do a lot of teaching as part of my work. I see knowledge as power and empowerment for people to take control over their own health and symptoms. I love teaching patients how their thyroid or gut works and what might be going wrong. As well, I love teaching in groups, workshops or classes. Getting the knowledge out there about the body and the natural tools available for healing is one of my favorite things.
Prevention (Principiis Obsta)
This one feels more straight forward. Keep an eye about what is possible in the future and work to prevent it. I often will say to patients, “if you don’t change your direction you’re liable to end up where you are headed.” And often that trajectory does not end in a great place. I also think about this one in the context of change and transformation. If you want things to change, somethings will have to change. This will then prevent a poor outcome or the development or worsening of a disease.
As I’ve been a practicing naturopathic doctor since 2012, I’ve come to adore these ideas and they are a guiding light to help me address tricky cases or situations that may arise.
