Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Medicine is a form of primary care that is focused on preventative treatment and utilizes more natural, gentler and generally less invasive therapies. The focus is treating the individual as a whole (body and mind), patient empowerment, and for Doctor and Patient to work as a team to find the most appropriate and sustainable treatment.

Naturopathic medicine differs from conventional medicine in a number of ways—the most notable being the use of natural or physical modalities to treat the condition at hand. However, there is also a core focus placed on prevention and acting proactively (rather than reactively). Our goal is more than just resolving symptoms; we want to find the underlying cause of your concerns.

Visits are longer, allowing for ample time to get to the root of the issue and for me to get to know my patient as an individual. Similarly to conventional medicine, NDs are highly trained primary care providers, utilizing many of the same diagnostic tools and physical exams to inform our approaches. Naturopathic medicine can make a great addition to your life, as it can fill in the gaps conventional medicine may leave.

NDs also strongly emphasize patient education and empowerment. It is up to you to make the necessary changes to achieve success, and I am here to educate and support you along the way.

Naturopathic medicine can provide either primary or supportive care to a number of conditions, including (but not limited to):

Mental health, such as anxiety and depression
Skin conditions, such as acne, eczema, psoriasis
Digestive concerns, such as bloating, indigestion, acid reflux, IBS and IBD
Diabetes (Type I, II or gestational)
Women's Health issues, including painful periods, PMS and PCOS
Pre and Post-natal care
Pediatric concerns
Cardiovascular conditions
Cold and Flu
Respiratory conditions
Healthy aging
Fertility, pre- and post-natal wellness
Weight Management
Immunity and Autoimmune conditions
Pain management

To accomplish your health goals, we may utilize a combination of the following naturopathic modalities:

Lifestyle Counselling: understanding how various lifestyle factors and environments could be keeping you from optimal health, and how we can best modify those. Discussing lifestyle can often give us greater perspective of ourselves, our motivations and our habits, allowing us to make better decisions. Sleep, stress and exercise are some of the many areas we may look at.

Nutritional Support: dietary counselling to see what changes can be made to your nutrition while fitting your individual lifestyle. We will focus on finding a dietary paradigm to support whatever concern we are working on. Dietary counselling will always be at the foundation of your health protocol; supplementation will be recommended if necessary.

Mind/Body Counselling: understanding how stress impacts the body and vice versa, getting to know how your mental/emotional state may be playing a role in your present health. We may utilize mindfulness, cognitive behavioural and breathing techniques, among other foundational approaches.

Herbs: utilizing various herbal preparations to help treat a variety of concerns, usually in a tea (hot water infusion, like you make at home), or tincture (concentrated alcohol-extracts), though there are several ways to incorporate healing herbs into your treatment.

Acupuncture: the use of fine needles inserted into the body along meridian lines, or trigger points, for various concerns—from mental/emotional, to digestion, to pain management.

Homeopathy: the use of highly diluted substances to balance the body and resolve symptoms.