Naturopathic Medicine is a distinctively natural and holistic approach to health and healing that recognizes the integrity of the whole person. Through the use of numerous therapeutics, both conventional and complementary, Naturopathic Medical Doctors (NMDs) treat disease and restore health by searching for the cause of disease, not simply addressing the symptoms. More specifically, NMDs are primary care physicians, licensed to integrate conventional and alternative medicine in ways that facilitate the innate healing capacity of the body. Conventional modalities include pharmaceuticals, minor surgery, and primary care diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Alternative modalities include acupuncture, oriental and botanical medicines, physical manipulation (spinal and other joint manipulation), nutrition, chelation (detoxification), homeopathy, and mind-body medicine.

The goal of Naturopathic Medicine is to bring the body back into balance by first addressing the cause of disease and through various approaches, stimulate the body's innate ability to heal itself. Often times this requires diet analysis, proper supplementation, lifestyle recommendations, acupuncture, homeopathy, joint manipulation, herbs, and prescribing traditional medications. Licensed and board certified NMDs attend four-year medical schools that teach the biomedical sciences (anatomy, biochemistry, pathology, etc.) as well as integrative therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, nutrition, and environmental, herbal and physical medicine. For more information, please visit the official American Association of Naturopathic Physicians website at www.naturopathic.org

A Naturopathic physician treats the 'whole person' - mind, body & spirit - for optimum health by applying the following principles:

Vis Medicatrix Naturae - The Healing Power of Nature
There is an innate drive for the body to reach balance and heal itself.  The therapeutics associated with Naturopathic Medicine has been shown to be the optimal approach to giving the body the resources it needs to heal itself.  Hundreds of scientifically-designed studies demonstrate the efficacy of natural therapeutics with little to no side effects.

Primum Non Nocere - First, Do No Harm
Identical to the principle set forth by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, Naturopathic Medicine uses only safe and effective medicines to treat disease that nearly always lack the side effects often associated with traditional pharmaceuticals.

Tolle Causum - Find and Treat the Cause
Naturopathic Medical Doctors do not see symptoms as disease but expressions of the body's effort to heal itself.  Many times symptoms are signals of more deep-lying disease and true health only comes with removal of this obstacle to cure.

Tolle Totum - Treat the Whole Person
Naturopathic Medicine respects the entire person and by taking a holistic approach, a greater understanding of a patient's disease can be understood and consequently addressed.  Although we are accustomed to the various “specialties” in medicine, this is a concept created for our own understanding of the body’s complexities and Naturopathic Medicine does not separate these various systems of the body from one another but instead respects their synergistic relationship.

Prevenir - Disease Prevention
Today's traditional medical field is designed to react to disease instead of preventing it. Naturopathic Medicine prides itself on helping patients prevent disease before it becomes problematic.

Docere - Physician as Teacher
Naturopathic physicians recognize the importance of teaching patients to empower themselves in taking responsibility for their own health. "Doctor," as derived from the Latin "docere" meaning "to teach," demonstrates the importance of education in providing a greater understanding of health and disease for patients.  It is ultimately this understanding that assists patients in their own self-driven improvement in health.