Filed under: Arrangements | Tags: Certification, Healers, Healing, Health, Illness, License, Medicine, N. D., Naturopath, Naturopathy
ARRANGEMENT 1.0
Dear Diary,
Is it just human to take for granted that which you posses until the threat of losing it?
Twelve years ago I became significantly ill and it wasn’t until that time that I really thought about, appreciated or took my health seriously. Like most people in their twenties, my thoughts revolved around making my mark in the world, how attractive I could be to the object of my affection and making money. Death and serious illness weren’t even on my radar at that particular time in my life.
Unfortunately, many of us don’t give our health a second thought until we are actually plagued with illness or then perhaps if someone in our inner circle makes their transition out of this realm.
How do we then learn about the best way to heal and prevent illness in the future? Who do we consult when we have questions about health in regard to healing, prevention and maintenance?
Theories, philosophies and opinions in the area of health are as vast as the number of individuals that practice or work in the health industry.
Prior to Dr. Benedict Lust (“considered the father of modern naturopathy in the USA”2 ) coining the term in 1900 and organizing this work, naturopathy has been “the earliest known healing system of utilizing food, water and whole herbs” to assist the body in self-restoration…used by many cultures.”3 Naturopathy reaches back even beyond the Ancient Egyptian “father of medicine” Imhotep most likely into pre-Sudan. “Naturopathy is not the invention of any human mind: it does not place its origin at any given date but is the accumulation of knowledge, pertaining to natural methods of living and healing throughout the centuries.3 “Early natural healers were in reality what we now call naturopaths.”2
Dr. Lust himself wrote: “Naturopathy is not the practice of medicine or surgery…all the methods of a naturopath are natural methods…”
Naturopathy as a system of healing has come in and out of public favor over the years. With a rising and energetic interest in health and natural living, the medical establishment has recently stepped in and created the licensing of naturopathic physicians in several states. Creating a new confusion, what will the public make out of all of the different designations within the field of Naturopathy?
TWO SEPARATE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
There are two schools of Naturopath, belonging to two different peer groups:
The classical (or traditional) naturopath and the naturopathic physician.
1) The classical (or traditional) naturopath does not diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure disease, believing that the body has a natural ability to restore itself given the right internal and external environment free of toxins. “The body cures itself.”3
The classical (or traditional ) naturopath has the right to counsel, evaluate, suggest, assist, “provide self-help education1” to their clients about natural health and lifestyle and may be certified by a body of its peers. They “never prescribe poisonous remedies or will have to sign a death certificate.1“
Classical (or traditional) naturopaths tend to stay away from synthetics or isolates favoring foods, whole botanicals, physical manipulations and nature’s agents of life: Sun, Water, and Air to support the body intelligence.
A classical (or traditional) naturopath focuses on prevention of health disorder, preservation of health, while dealing with root causes and eliminating them as opposed to suppressing the signals the body gives to alert one to the imbalance.
“The classical (or traditional) naturopath believes that the body can heal itself, thus modalities to encourage the body are what are preferred.”3
The downside: Finding qualified naturopaths who are not just vitamin supplement salespeople (pushers). Steering clear of outlandish modalities that have little or no effect.
2) The naturopathic physician is a type of medical doctor who has obtained “a four-year degree which includes pharmacology and minor surgery (“which essentially by definition, such interventions are not “naturopathic”3), which requires a license.”1
A naturopathic physician has the privilege to examine, diagnose, prescribe, administer, dispense and treat their patients and utilize natural remedies as a complement to standard modalities. The medicinal view of naturopathy is a contradiction of terms.
“The naturopathic physician views the body as a chemical mix, thus medicines are often prescribed.”3 Instead of supporting the body to correct or heal itself, certain pharmaceuticals, may instead disable its natural function thereby creating a life-long dependence on those pharmaceuticals to perform that function with possible cumulative side effects.
The downside: “Learned medical authorities are practically all agreed that drugging is an unnatural practice, and that drugs possess no power to heal or cure.”3 There is a focus on alleviating/suppressing the symptoms of a disorder as opposed to eliminating the cause which eliminates the symptoms altogether.
In both schools of thought the foundational principle is the based on the Hippocratic oath “premum no nocere” or “first do no harm,” inspired by the Pythagorean theories “as Pythagorus was a disciple of the Egyptian priests and a disseminator of their teachings and culture among the Greeks.” 4
LICENSURE vs. CERTIFICATION
Licensure is compulsory. Certification is voluntary.
Licensure can “regularize and legitimize a profession1.”
Licensure of naturopathy in the mainstream takes away a certain amount of freedom for the individual to practice. Certification is a program of “peer review to demonstrate their abilities, education and professionalism.1“
Benefits & Limitations of Licensure & Certification From the public perspective:
The BENEFITS of licensure:
“It limits the practice while it (may) insure certain standards…while it protects the public from fraud (more times than not)…by controlling the profession with rules and regulations.1 “
The LIMITATIONS of licensure: “It limits the practice and controls a profession with (restrictive) rules & regulations.1“ Licensure “limits competition…while fees are imposed by licensing body.1“
The BENEFITS of certification : Certification “insures certain standards…while protecting the public from fraud” (more times than not).
The LIMITATIONS of certification: There is the potential for abuse without strict administration of a certification system.
A WORD OF CAUTION
You could be considered to be practicing medicine without a license illegally, meaning well as a friend, associate or private citizen if you:
“tell someone to brush their teeth to avoid cavities” or “tell someone choking to drink water to alleviate the cough.1“
According to the laws instigated by the medical community, you are diagnosing and prescribing treatment. Sounds ridiculous, right? But true no less. These comments are based on real life cases that went before a court of law.
YOUR RESURRECTION BEGINS WITH YOU.
The possibilities available to you are infinite when it comes to your healing and health care. The first thing to do is educate yourself. Intuitively, you are the foremost expert on what’s best for you and your well-being. We invest much time in carefully selecting a home, a mate, a stock, checking Consumer Reports to purchase electronics and cars so why not render as much care in assembling your personal healing and health care community for you and your family’s optimal well-being.
The best cure for any future illness is prevention. Your (own) resurrection begins with you.
—
Dedicated to the healers of past, present and future for the “accumulation of knowledge pertaining to natural methods of living and healing throughout…” time.
SOURCE MATERIALS
1 Medical Jurisprudence: How To Practice Legally & Ethically by Wendell W. Whitman, M. Div., N.D.
2 Combining Old and New: Naturopathy for the 21st Century by Robert J. Thiel, Ph. D., Whitman Publications, Warsaw, IN, 2000.
3 1929 Act of Congress Feb. 27, 1929 (Chap. 352@1326, S. 3936, Public No. 831) and it’s clarifying amendment (H.R. 12169 of May 1930 and Jan. 28, 1931.)
4Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern, Volume 5, Issues 1-2 by Ivan Van Sertima p. 135 Transaction Publishers, January 1, 1983
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