Introduction to Naturopathic Medicine: Principles, Practices, and Challenges

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO THE NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
INTRODUCTION TO THE NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
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INTRODUCTION TO THE NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
Introduction:
Naturopathic medication can be defined as the healthcare system that mainly uses the
natural remedies that are important for helping of the healing of the body. It is mainly seen to
embrace different types of therapies that include various components like the herbs, acupuncture,
massage, exercises and even nutritional counseling. This medication system was brought to the
nation of United States in the 1800 from the nation of Germany although many of the treatments
in the field of naturopathy are even centuries old (Damico, Chao & Gardiner, 2017). In the
present generation, this ode of treatment is seen to include traditional treatments along with
along with that of the modern science. The main goal of the naturopathic treatment is treating the
entire person that includes caring and healing of the mind, body as well as spirit of the
individuals who seek help (Goldenberg et al., 2017). The medication mainly tries to heel the root
cause of the treatment and not only concentrates on the symptoms. This assignment will mainly
show the different aspects of the naturopathic medication and the ways by which it has become
one of the most effective treatment medium in the present generation in the different nations of
the world.
Naturopath:
A naturopath can be described as the healthcare professionals who are seen to mainly
apply the different natural therapies for the treatment of the person. The spectrum of the
profession is seen to be comprising of components that are far more than fasting, water, exercises
as well as nutrition. It is seen to include different types of approved natural healing procedures
like that of homeopathy, herbal medication therapy, acupuncture and even ozone therapy, bio-
resonance as well as colon hydrotherapy (Oberg et al., 2015). Many of the researchers in the

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INTRODUCTION TO THE NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
present day are of the opinion that in the present day generation, the negative outcomes of the
different types of pollution, application of modern technologies, poor diet as well as stress play
important roles resulting in degradation of health. In such situations, the ability of the
naturopaths in application of the natural methods of healing is found to be of considerable
importance. Extensive researches have seen that naturopath is often the last resort of the patient
in his long search of healthcare that helps in curing internally in the patients (Seely, Szczurko &
Cooley, 2016). Therefore, the naturopath has the responsibility of seeing the humankind as the
holistic structure that is the union of the body, mind and spirit, and is thereby seen to provide
personalized care that not only satisfies the needs and requirement of the individual but also
ensures effective mental and physical health of individuals.
Arenas of practice of the naturopath:
A naturopath is mainly seen to conduct practices in wide variety of settings. The
professional can be seen to be working in the different types of freelance environment. They
have the options of working in the hospitals as well as in the spas, administration, research,
healthcare sectors, management in the retail industry and even in the media. Such professional
can be also seen to be working in the nutritional as well as the family consultancy and they can
even work in the different types of beauty clinics. They can also have specific specialization in
the skin problems as well as infertility, sports, skin problems, children as well as geritarics
(Arentz et al., 2018). The growing acceptance of the naturopathy in the modern healthcare
system had made it helpful for such professionals to provide care without any resistance or
conflicts. They are seen to work simultaneously to the already existing medication system in the
western healthcare system.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
Origins and principles of naturopathy:
The principles of Naturopathy were first seen to be used by the Hippocratic School of
Medicine around the time of 400 BC. The Greek Philosopher namely Hippocrates mainly
believed in the viewing of the whole person in regards to that of the finding of the causal factors
of the disorders and thereby utilizing the laws of the nature for inducing the care. The concept
and the principles of this mode of healthcare had originated from this school of thought. A
number of principles remain intricately associated with the present day naturopathy. One of them
is the main founding principle of the treatment procedure that is considering the healing power of
the nature and believes the nature has the innate capability of healing (Ooi et al., 2017). The next
principle is the identification and the treatment of the cause that shows that there is always an
underlying cause of the disorders and that might be both physical as well as emotional. The third
principle says not to cause any harm that involves that a naturopath should never be using any
treatments that might create other negative conditions. The fourth principle would be treating the
whole person. This means that the healthcare professional needs to prepare a whole treatment
plan that would be considering all the aspects of the person (Harris, 2017). The fifth principle is
considering the Naturopath as the teacher which means that the naturopath would be helping the
clients to take the responsibility of their own health and this would be achieved by teaching of
the self-care. The sixth principle is based on the famous quote of prevention to be better than
cure. The professional would be mainly helping in the removal of the toxic substances as well as
the situations from the lifestyle of the patient that help in the prevention of the further onset of
the further disorder.
Process of working of naturopathy: