Clinical Principles of the Naturopathic Doctor-Holistic Medicine

Principles that Guide a Naturopathic Doctor Appointment

#1 – First, Do No Harm

The Naturopathic Doctor follows three precepts to avoid harming the patient:

1. They use methods and medicinal substances that minimize the risk of harmful effects and apply the least possible force or intervention necessary to diagnose illness and restore health.

2. When possible, the suppression of symptoms is avoided because suppression generally interferes with the healing process.

3. They respect and work with the self-healing process in diagnosis, treatment, and counseling because, if this self-healing process is not respected, the patient may be harmed.

Put Simply:

The Naturopathic Doctor prefers noninvasive treatments (the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies) that minimize the risks of harmful side effects. They are trained to use the lowest-force and lowest-risk diagnostic, treatment, and co-management strategies. They are trained to know which patients they can safely treat and which ones they need to refer to other health care practitioners. As a Naturopath & Holistic Medicine practitioner, Dr. Smith serves patients in Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, & surrounding areas.

#2: Trust in the Healing Power of Nature

Naturopathic medicine is “vitalistic” in its approach (i.e. life is viewed as more than just the sum of biochemical processes), and the body is believed to have an innate intelligence or process, which is always striving toward health. Thus:

1. Vitalism maintains that the symptoms accompanying disease are not typically caused by the morbific agent (e.g., bacteria); rather, they are the result of the organism’s intrinsic response or reaction to the agent and the organism’s attempt to defend and heal itself.

2. Symptoms are part of a constructive phenomenon that is the best “choice” the organism can make, given the circumstances. In this construct, the physician’s role is to understand and aid the body’s efforts, not to take over or manipulate the functions of the body, unless the self-healing process has become weak or insufficient.

Put Simply:

The Naturopathic Doctor recognizes & values the body's innate wisdom & ability to heal itself. This self-healing process is ordered & intelligent. The physician’s job is simply to be a catalyst & encourage the body's natural healing processthrough the least invasive therapies. The physician acts to identify and remove obstacles to healing & recovery, and to facilitate this inherent self-healing process. As a Naturopath & Holistic Medicine practitioner, Dr. Smith serves patients in Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, & surrounding areas.

#3: Identify & Treat the Cause(s)

Every illness has an underlying cause or causes, often in aspects of the lifestyle, diet, or habits of the individual. A Naturopathic Doctor is trained to find and remove the underlying cause(s) of disease. The ND seeks to:

1. Identify and remove the underlying causes of illness rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.

2. Understand that symptoms are the body's way to signal that the body's defenses are heightened and it's the physician’s job to correctly interpret the symptoms to identify & treat the underlying cause of the disease.

For Example:

1. If you’re sitting on a tack, it takes a lot of aspirin to feel better. If you’re sitting on two tacks, removing one does not necessarily lead to a 50% improvement or reduction in symptoms.

2. If the fire alarm suddenly goes off, you don’t walk over to it and try to turn down the volume. You call the fire department to put out the fire!

#4: Treat the Whole Person

The Naturopathic Doctor treats the whole person, taking several factors into account:

1. Health & disease comes from a complex interaction of mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, dietary, genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and other factors.

2. Since total health also includes spiritual health, the Naturopathic Doctor encourages individuals to pursue their personal spiritual development.

3. Naturopathy is often called holistic medicine in reference to the term holism,to describe the gestalt of a system as greater than the sum of its parts.

Put Simply:

A human being's health is complex and involves many aspects, including physical, mental,emotional, environmental, social, genetic, & spiritual health. The ND views patients as a sum of all the part, or an integrated whole and attempts to treat them as such by addressing all aspects of their health. As a Naturopathic & Holistic Medicine practitioner, Dr. Smith serves patients in Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, & surrounding areas.

#5: Prevention

The Naturopathic Doctor emphasizes the prevention of disease by assessing several risk factors, such as personal health history, family history, susceptibility to diseases, etc. This approach to health care helps prevent disease and keeps minor illnesses from developing into more serious or chronic degenerative diseases. Patients are taught the principles for living a healthful life, and by following these principles, they can prevent major illness. In this model:

1. Health is viewed as more than just the absence of disease; it is considered a dynamic state that enables a person to thrive in, & adapt to, a wide range of environments and stresses. As a Naturopath & Holistic Medicine practitioner, Dr. Smith educated his patients serving Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, & surrounding areas.

2. The Naturopathic Doctor believes that a person who goes through life living an unhealthful lifestyle will drift away from optimal function and move relentlessly toward progressively greater dysfunction.

3. In the naturopathic model, death is inevitable; progressive disability is not. This belief underscores a fundamental difference in philosophy and expectation between the conventional and naturopathic models of health and disease. In contrast to the disease treatment focus of allopathic medicine, the health promotion focus of naturopathic medicine emphasizes the means of maximizing health span.

4. “In our society, although our expected life span at birth has increased, our health span has not, nor has our health expectancy at age 65. We are living longer but as disabled individuals” (Pizzorno, 1997).

5. Although such deterioration is accepted by our society as the normal expectation of aging, it is not common in animals in the wild or among those fortunate peoples who live in an optimal environment (i.e., no pollution, low stress, regular exercise, and abundant natural, nutritious food).

#6: Doctor as Teacher

The Naturopathic Doctor educates their patient on ALL aspects of their care, including their diagnosis, effective treatment options, accurate timelines for treatment, proper follow-up, & prognosis; as well as encourage self-responsibility for health. Naturopathic doctors also recognize and employ the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship. The patient is engaged and respected as an ally and member of her or his own health care team; and As a Naturopath & Holistic Medicine practitioner, Dr. Smith serves patients in Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, & surrounding areas.