In addition to having a Masters in Psychology, I am qualified as a Naturopath, holding a Doctorate in Naturopathy
with an emphasis on Complementary
and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health. I blend this training with my Masters in Psychology in order to provide
a truly holistic approach to healing.
Naturopaths are doctors of natural medicine who study complementary and alternative medicine interventions for the
treatment of psychological and medical conditions. These complementary and alternative therapies are sometimes
refered to as "natural therapuetics." Many naturopaths study psychotherapy in an effort to better
serve the psychological needs of their clients.
Additionally, we tend to devote our careers to continuing education in area of alternative therapies.
Naturopathic Psychotherapy
Naturopathic psychotherapists are mental health care providers who treat the whole person, calling on science and
a person's innate qualities to stimulate healing.
Naturopathic psychotherapy is the belief in and support of the psyche's capacity to restore itself
to a state of health from the effects of trauma, abuse, and cumulative stress. The therapist's
role is to guide the patient's restoration process by increasing awareness and consciousness
regarding the identification and use of his own inherent resources. The therapy itself draws on
the therapist's and patient's relationship with nature as the primary context in which core
transformation and healing occurs. Core transformation refers to the process of
awakening to a greater understanding of oneself and one's environment.
Naturopathic psychotherapy is based on the premise of educating the patient on how to be responsible for
their own health care.
I teach my clients about self care and make recommendations with regards to treatment options,
both allopathic and complementary.
How I Use Naturopathy With Psychotherapy
Because disorders are often affected by our emotions and state of mind, naturopathic psychotherapy attempts to
obtain emotional balance. This involves diagnosing and removing the disturbing emotional causes, whether
psychological or physiological. Just as in any type of psychotherapy, referrals to outside sources, such as medical
doctors, are given as needed.
In naturopathic psychotherapy, the patient is not regarded as having a mind in a body, but as constituting a
mind-body-spirit unity.
Mental-emotional, physical, and spiritual factors act and react upon each other, producing either health or disease.
The Principles of Naturopathic Psychotherapy
Naturopathic psychotherapy holds the same principles as naturopathic medicine, which are founded on principles
formulated from the observation of health and disease, and examined in light of scientific analysis.
The principles address the psychological, physiological and spiritual nature of the person and
distinguish naturopathic psychotherapyy from other approaches.
- First do no harm
Illness is a purposeful process of the organism. Symptoms are an expression of the life
force attempting to heal itself. The naturopath's treatment must support the healing power
of nature and therapy must be congruent with the internal order of the organism.
- Utilize the healing power of nature
Each person has the inherent ability to establish, maintain and restore their health. The naturopathic
psychotherapist's role is to facilitate and augment this process, to act to identify and remove obstacles to
health and aid recovery.
- Identify and treat the cause
Underlying causes of disease must be treated before a person can recover. Symptoms are expressions of the body's
attempt to heal, and should not be suppressed by treatment. The naturopathic psychotherapist evaluates underlying
causes on all levels, addressing causes rather than symptoms.
- Treat the whole person
Health and disease are conditions of the entire organism, involving a complex interaction of physical,
spiritual, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, and social factors. The naturopath must treat
the whole person by taking all of these factors into account.
- The best healer is a teacher
A cooperative psychotherapist-patient relationship is, in itself, therapeutic. The therapist's major
role is to educate and encourage the patient to take responsibility for health, and to be a
catalyst for healthful change. It is the patient, not the therapist, who ultimately creates or accomplishes healing.
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
The ultimate goal of naturopathic psychotherapy is prevention, accomplished through education
and promotion of life-habits that create good health. The emphasis is on building health rather than
on fighting disease.
Why Naturopathic Psychotherapy Works
Rather than approaching emotional health from a strictly psychological approach, the naturopath psychotherapist
seeks to create
a synergistic effect by combining various modes of healing. Each method that is used builds upon the others to create
a more powerful catalyst for change.
The principle of synergism is the foundation of many ancient healing practices, such
as Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbalism. In herbalism, for example, herbs are used in certain combination to achieve
a specific synergistic effect. In naturopathic psychotherapy, combining certain methods often result in a more profound
and lasting change than psychotherapy alone.
For more information about how I can combine naturopathy and psychotherapy to help you, please call
(408) 315-0645 or
contact me online.
