Last Updated on 8 March 2024 by Brisbane Livewell Clinic
The Six Naturopathic Principles are what Naturopaths consider and use when reviewing patients. These specific fundamentals aim to achieve Balance (Homeostasis) within physical aspects, vitality, emotion and treating the person holistically.
Throughout history, healers have observed nature and how it interplays with humanity, vitality, and innate ability to heal. To achieve optimal health, you must treat all aspects of a person, not just the physical/visible problems.
The Naturopathic Principles are:
1. Establish the Cause.
As practitioners, we want to look at every bodily system and determine the underlying factor to the disease. We review various health aspects, e.g. lifestyle, diet, stressors, genetics, traumatic events, digestion, emotional aspects, environmental wellness, occupation, and quality of life, amongst others. This gives us vital information to restore the missing pieces and solve the health puzzle (1)
2. Stimulate the body’s own healing.
A fundamental principle in Naturopathy is understanding and appreciating the body is determined to heal itself, given the right nourishment and support. We recognise the integrated systematic complexity of your body (physical and mental) and gently support those systems to establish, restore and maintain health. (2)
3. Support Weakened Systems.
Disease states come from weakened vital systems. Once the root cause of the problem has been established, this gives us the ability to support the imbalanced organ functionality. For instance, prolonged stress can disrupt the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis causing hormone imbalances. Thus, we look at restorative healing options for that weakened system to strengthen, nourish and gently return balance. (2)
4. Correct Structural Integrity.
Organ structural integrity can be compromised and cause a cascade of issues; for instance, having uterine scar tissue formation may be influencing fertility and conception. Therefore we look at nourishing and strengthening the structural integrity of the uterine lining. Bodily structures influence body processes and how they function; this may also mean referrals to another modality if this is in your best interest. (2)
5. Address Pathology.
In chronic cases, a Naturopath will endeavour to work against the disease’s pathophysiology to address and alleviate signs and symptoms. This is a natural intervention to directly target the imbalance and potentially suppress or counteract pathogenesis of the disease. (2)
6. Remove Pathology.
If the disease state is not succumbing to natural therapeutic interventions, it may be of best interest for the patient to be referred to a specialist, general practitioner or emergency department to review. The state may require more intensive therapies or surgeries to remove the pathology. (2)
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