Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

Primum non nocere: “First do no harm”

The lenghty initial interview allows the naturopathic doctor to get to know the person with his or her condition better than conventional health practitioners. The naturopathic doctor strives to be informed, and is respectful, of other treatments the patient is undergoing. Relevant medical information is considered, including existing diagnoses and test results, thus minimizing the possibility of harm due to ignorance of the patient’s state of health. Most important, naturopathic treatment methods are usually very safe and free of side effects.

Vis Mediatrix Naturae: “The healing power of nature”

The body has an inherent ability to establish, maintain, and restore health. The physician's role is to facilitate this process by relying on the healing capacity inherent in each living being.

Tolle Causam: “Remove the cause”

Underlying causes of disease must be discovered and addressed before a person can recover completely from illness. In most cases symptoms express the body’s attempt to heal rather than being themselves the disease, so they should not be suppressed by local treatment without proper consideration of the patient’s overall state. Causes of illness may occur on many levels including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. They are often found in a different body system or anatomically remotely from the place where symptoms present. The naturopathic doctor must evaluate fundamental underlying causes on all levels, directing treatment at root causes rather than at symptomatic expression.

More fundamentally, health and disease are regarded by default as conditions of the whole organism until proven otherwise; this contrast with the view held by conventional medicine, namely that a problem is local and isolated until proven otherwise. The naturopathic doctor must treat the whole person by taking these factors into account. At best this leads beyond the alleviation of present suffering to the prevention of future illness and ultimately to a greater ability to fulfil one’s higher purpose of existence, whatever it might be for each one of us.

Docere: “To teach”

A co-operative doctor-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. The naturopathic physician acts as a catalyst for healthful change, empowering and motivating the patient to undertake the work of healing.