Naturopathic Principles
As a Naturopathic Physician I follow our principles with every patient I treat. Throughout our education, we learn about applying the principles in patient care in multiple scenarios. We learn and know the importance of them and understand that if we base our practice on them it will help us get tremendous benefits and positive outcomes in our patients. They might seem pretty basic but they are a strong foundation of our medicine.
- The Healing Power of Nature: The body is very smart and knows what to do to heal itself. It just needs the right nutrients to do so. Whenever there are no obstructions or obstacles and the body has what it needs, healing will happen. That’s what we always tell patients to trust their bodies because it knows what to do.
- Identify and Treat the Causes: Identifying the cause of the problem is essential because we are not just putting a band aid and relieving a symptom, that’s easy to do. Our goal is to treat the root of the problem and remove it. This can take time depending on the case and we explain it to patients whenever they start treatment because there is no magic treatment.
- First, Do No Harm: Our medicine in itself is natural and pretty safe. However, like anything you have to know how to use it and dose it depending on the patient’s circumstances. We always use the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies as a first option to avoid any harm on the patients.
- Doctor as Teacher: There’s always an education component in our medicine. We act as teachers with our patients and continuously educate them on what to do to achieve health and maintain it.
- Treat the Whole Person: We don’t see a part of the body or a symptom on its own; the patient is seen as a whole and is treated as a whole including the body, mind and spirit.
- Prevention: Prevention is the key for us. Instead of the disease, treating mentality, our goal is to prevent sickness and make sure our patients can achieve wellness and maintain it.
Dr. Yarilis Vazquez, ND
Naturopathic Doctor- Sophia Natural Health Center