Naturopathic model of healing : the process of healing revisited

Jared Zeff, Pamela Snider, Stephen Myers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Subsequent discussion has been published particularly by Drs. Zeff, Snider and Myers; Pizzorno and Snider.1-5,7,8,9, This concept is found in various forms and names as part of the core curriculum in clinical theory in naturopathic colleges throughout the world.10 The Naturopathic Model of Healing-The Process of Healing Models of Medical Thought Mainstream medicine is based upon a simple and elegant, implicit model: the diagnosis and treatment of disease. [...]naturopathic physicians adopted the following short definition of Naturopathic medicine in 1989: "Naturopathic physicians treat disease by restoring health"11 One can see a difference in orientation between mainstream conventional medicine (or standard medicine), which is disease-based; and naturopathic medicine, which is health-based. "1,2,7 It is the naturopathic physician's role to support, facilitate and augment this process by identifying and removing obstacles to health and recovery, and by supporting the creation of a healthy internal and external environment.11 Rather than see the ill patient as suffering from a "disease," the naturopath views the ill person as functioning within a process of disturbance and recovery, in the context of nature and natural systems. If the physician can identify these disturbances, moderate them (or some of them), and insure that factors which promote or impair health (for example - diet, exercise, community, exposure to nature, social determinants of health, environmental toxicity, etc) are optimized; and stimulate or assist the self-healing tendency of the body the illness and its effects will abate, at least to some extent if not totally.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-30
Number of pages5
JournalIntegrative Medicine
Volume18
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Naturopathic model of healing : the process of healing revisited'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this