Naturopathic theory dictates that the human body has the ability to heal itself if it is supplied with the correct environment and the basic ingredients that can build new healthy cells. This is based on the age old doctrine of “vis medicatrix naturae” – a phrase attributed to Hippocrates, meaning that organisms contain “healing powers of nature”.

The philosophical perspective on which the naturopathic clinical approach is based is that of vitalism. According to vitalist philosophy, living beings are not machines running according to strict cause-and-effect relations, but rather are beings whose existence is guided by a single vital force.

Naturopathic medicine is based on treating the cause of an illness and aims to treat the body as a whole. The disease, illness or pain that the patient presents with may have a singular cause, but often has many different causes. The causes may be chemical, structural or even emotional. The aim of the Naturopath is to discover the root cause/s of the illness and then remedy the situation by removing the cause. For example: improving poor lifestyle or dietary choices, reducing acidity, removing toxicity from the body and improving musculo-skeletal disturbances, improving nutritional deficiencies  by implementing nutritional or herbal supplements, improving diet, improving exercise and more. This results in freeing up the body’s inbuilt ability to heal itself by rebuilding itself with better cells – cell by cell.