Naturopathic Doctors Are Guided by Six Principles:
1. The Healing Power of Nature - Vis Medicatrix Naturae
The naturopathic doctor works to restore and support the powerful and inherent healing abilities of the body, mind and spirit. Naturopathic medicine harnesses the vast potential of the natural world to stimulate the process of healing and prevent further disease from occurring.
2. First Do No Harm - Primum Non Nocere
The naturopathic doctor chooses remedies and therapies that are safe and effective, to increase overall health and decrease harmful side effects.
3. Identify and Treat the Cause - Tolle Causam
The primary goal of the naturopathic doctor is to determine and treat the underlying causes of illness, rather than simply managing the symptoms.
4. Treat the Whole Person - Holism
Each person is unique and requires individualized care. In treating the cause of any condition, the naturopathic doctor takes into account not only a person's physical symptoms, but also the person who has the symptoms. Disease affects the entire person, not just a specific organ or system. Thoughts, feelings, lifestyle, family history, environmental stresses, nutritional status and general physical state are all carefully evaluated and addressed.
5. Educate - Docere
The naturopathic doctor helps people understand health and illness, to give them the tools to live in balance and become responsible for their own health.
6. Maintain Health and Wellness
The naturopathic doctor applies all of the above principles in a proactive form of prevention against the development of more serious chronic or degenerative diseases. Health is more than just the absence of disease. Optimum health entails daily functioning on the highest possible levels, and is characterized by positive emotions, thoughts and actions. The capacity for wellness is inherent in everyone.
​