These are The Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
- Do no harm: Naturopathic doctors follow these three guidelines to avoid harming the patient:
- Use methods and medicines which minimize the risk of harmful side effects, using the least amount of force necessary to diagnose and treat.
- Avoid the harmful suppressing of symptoms.
- Acknowledge, respect and work with the individual’s self-healing process.
- Support the natural healing process of the body: Naturopathic Medicine recognizes an inherent self healing process in the person which is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic doctors act to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery, and to facilitate and increase this inherent self-healing process.
- To address the fundamental causes of disease: The naturopathic doctor seeks to identify and to remove the underlying causes of illness, rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.
- To heal the whole person through individualized treatment: Naturopathic doctors treat each patient by taking into account individual physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social factors.
- To teach the principles of healthy living and preventive medicine: Naturopathic doctors emphasize the prevention of disease by assessing risk factors, heredity and susceptibility to disease and making appropriate interventions in partnership with their patients to prevent illness