It’s a naturopathic doctor, the same as a holistic doctor. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I am a holistic doctor in family practice. I’m also a naturopath. And so I am here to educate you about the differences. Okay. So naturopathic doctors and holistic doctors. We share the same similarities, but we’re definitely not the same. So naturopathic doctors focus on natural remedies, and they can focus on holistic health. Still, holistic doctors take a much more comprehensive approach to health care, addressing physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual, and even ancestral aspects of health.
So both types of doctors can be valuable in promoting health and well-being, but choosing a healthcare professional that aligns fully with your beliefs and needs is essential. Naturopathic doctors and holistic doctors do share some of the same similarities. However, they’re not quite the same naturopathic doctors. They follow Dr. Bennett Gloss, or at least the traditional naturopathic doctors do. Some naturopathic medical doctors do a lot of integrative, meaning they make some allopathic approaches. Still, in general, natural paths, they’ll do herbal medicine, nutrition, or even some will do manual manipulation.
And the emphasis is really on preventing disease and promoting overall health and well-being. On the other hand, holistic doctors take a more comprehensive approach. They really look at the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and ancestral aspects. So they consider the individual as a whole and then use these therapies, including sometimes conventional practices and natural remedies, to promote health and well-being.
While both types of doctors can be valuable in promoting health and well-being. It’s essential to choose again, a healthcare professional. That aligns fully with your beliefs as well as your needs. It’s also important to note that not all naturopathic doctors or holistic doctors may be licensed or regulated like conventional healthcare professionals because we tend to not be under the standard.
The American Medical Association. Standard. So we need access to that. Many trusted healthcare professionals need to be licensed, but they are trained. So we have national certification. So again, I’m board-certified under the Association for Natural or American Naturopathic Association, the oldest Association in the country, initially formed by Dr. Benedict Lust in 1912. And so we are the oldest, and then there are other subsidiaries like the there’s also the, again, the American Association for the medical physicians.
There are two distinctions, even enough Rapa. First, there is a traditional naturopathic doctor like myself. We believe in Dr. Dominik. Nicholas’s nature cure. We believe that the body was made to heal itself. If it’s given the right environment and we are specifically trained on nature cure and how to heal the body from a natural perspective, whether we use food or we use. And traditionally, they used air and water, and lights. We’ve advanced past that, but natural paths traditionally they’ll use only naturally occurring substances. And then we have the naturopathic medical doctors who are a few mixers, meaning they do have that naturopathic training as a baseline. Still, then they also are trained in allopathic practices.
We aren’t necessarily on the same accord because they’re two different philosophies. Natural paths. We believe that the body can heal itself. And in the allopathic medical model, it’s perceived that the body is flawed and needs to be diagnosed and managed. And so those are two fundamental differences. So how can holistic practice come into the equation?
Holistic medicine takes it a step further. So we look at the relationship that one thing has with another. So we look at the physical, but then we also look at how the physical is impacted. So let’s say by the environment the person is, and, or the mental health of the person, the emotional health of the person, the spiritual health or lack thereof, or even the ancestral trauma or complex traumas.
So we look at the relationship that each one of these has. Parameters come in. So as a patient comes in, let’s say they present, they have a physical ailment. Most people have a physical or mental illness they want to address. So they’ll go in, and then they’ll throw everything on my desk, and then I’ll organize it into step-by-step and prioritize it. And I do it in a slow, organized manner. So many times, people don’t realize that your physical health is just a manifestation of all the things that have been going on with you.
And so we don’t necessarily just want to throw herbs at the problem, supplements at their situation, or even go on a restrictive diet. We want to understand what’s driving. Driving that person so that we can create a holistic lifestyle. And that’s what I’m about in our practice of creating a holistic health lifestyle. So if that’s something of interest to you, please subscribe to our channel and share and comment below. And I’d love to teach you more about what it means to have a holistic lifestyle.