Hello from Americans for Homeopathy Choice! Thank you for taking the time to follow along as we talk about our favorite subject – homeopathy! We hope these posts inform you about the many ways homeopathy can be used in your everyday life and why it’s so important that we protect our access to it.
If you’d like to read the summary of today’s report, scroll down to the end of this post!
Outline:
- What is a Naturopathic physician?
- Homeopathy and other medicines
- Licensing
- Continuing education for Naturopaths
- Stay tuned every Monday as we bring to you the Homeopathy Choice Insider.
Our job is not to change the world;
our job is to steward the gifts we’ve been given.
Summary of Today’s Episode:
Naturopaths and Homeopathy
Welcome to another edition of Homeopathy Choice Insider, where we give you up-to-date information about the state of homeopathy in America and tips on how you can help promote and protect homeopathy for ourselves and for future generations. I’m Paola Brown, president of Americans for Homeopathy Choice. Today, I’m going to talk about naturopaths and homeopathy.
Some of you watching may already see a naturopath regularly and receive homeopathy treatment from them. Many, but not all naturopaths use homeopathy in their practices.
So, just what is a naturopath? Naturopathic physicians treat people in many ways like conventional physicians. However, the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians tells us, “Rather than just suppressing symptoms, naturopathic doctors work to identify underlying causes of illness and develop personalized treatment plans to address them.”
Naturopaths do utilize natural remedies, as their name implies. In some states, they also prescribe pharmaceuticals when necessary. More often, they focus on (quote) “lifestyle
interventions, dietary modifications, botanical medicine, orthomolecular therapy (use of substances that occur naturally in the body such as vitamins, amino acids, minerals), and homeopathy.”
Naturopaths are licensed in 26 states and territories in the United States but are found throughout the country. All naturopaths receive training in homeopathy, and those seeking a license must pass an exam that includes a section on homeopathy. Some naturopaths seek to go further with their training in homeopathy.
The Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians provides continuing education in homeopathy. But more important for patients, the Academy offers an advanced specialty status known as a diplomate to those naturopaths who complete a rigorous course of additional homeopathy education, have practiced actively for three years, and submit other materials, including case studies of homeopathic treatment.
You can find a list of those naturopaths on the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians website. They offer patients the additional assurance that the naturopath has advanced skills in using homeopathy.
Many other health practitioners also use homeopathy to complement their main specialties, including chiropractors, nurse practitioners, mental health counselors, dentists, medical doctors, and osteopaths. And that’s an important thing to know about homeopathy. It can be used successfully in conjunction with a wide range of health care practices and can even be given in conjunction with pharmaceuticals when appropriate to aid the recovery of a patient.
Thanks for listening. I’ll be back a week from now with another update.
