Welcome to Calluna Natural Health!
Hello and Welcome to Calluna Natural Health!
My name is Dr. Heather Almvig and I’m a licensed naturopathic doctor in the state of Washington. As of this writing, I am finishing up a degree in midwifery and I hope to add midwifery licensure and care into my practice within the next year. I created Calluna Natural Health as a means to offer primary care services to adults and children throughout Skagit and Whatcom counties, with a focus on holistic health and wellness. The name “Calluna” came from my name, as the scientific name for the Heather flower is Calluna vulgaris. In this space, I hope to share more information about naturopathic medicine, midwifery, and overall holistic wellness. I hope you’ll enjoy following along and creating community together!
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic medicine is a health care profession that focuses on optimizing wellness. This is accomplished through the utilization of both conventional and alternative medical practices in order to prevent and treat disease. Naturopathic doctors consider each patient as a whole person and work collaboratively with them to create an individualized wellness plan. We can utilize various medical modalities such as herbal medicine, physical medicine (i.e. hydrotherapy, naturopathic manipulation, massage, craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation), diet and nutrient therapy, homeopathy, counseling, minor surgery, IV and injection administration, as well as pharmaceutical drug therapy. Additionally, we are trained in clinical and laboratory diagnostic testing in order to facilitate diagnosis and treatment of disease. Some naturopathic doctors choose to specialize in particular facets of medicine while others practice as primary care physicians.
Naturopathic doctors follow six foundational principles of naturopathic medicine. These six principles lead our philosophy in how we approach patient care, diagnosis and treatment of disease. These principles include (AANP, 2011):
The Healing Power of Nature: Naturopathic medicine recognizes an inherent self-healing process in people that is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic physicians act to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery, and to facilitate and augment this inherent self-healing process.
Identify and Treat the Cause: The naturopathic physician seeks to identify and remove the underlying causes of illness rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.
First Do No Harm: Naturopathic physicians follow three guidelines to avoid harming the patient:
Utilize methods and medicinal substances which minimizes the risk of harmful side effects, using the least force necessary to diagnose and treat;
Avoid, when possible, the harmful suppression of symptoms; and
Acknowledge, respect, and work with individuals’ self-healing process.
Doctor as Teacher: Naturopathic physicians educate their patients and encourage self-responsibility for health. They also recognize and employ the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship.
Treat the Whole Person: Naturopathic physicians treat each patient by taking into account individual physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, and other factors. Since total health also includes spiritual health, naturopathic physicians encourage individuals to pursue their personal spiritual development.
Prevention: Naturopathic physicians emphasize the prevention of disease by assessing risk factors, heredity and susceptibility to disease, and by making appropriate interventions in partnership with their patients to prevent illness.
The Therapeutic Order:
In naturopathic medicine philosophy, practitioners utilize the lowest force intervention necessary in order to address the cause of the patient’s symptoms. The therapeutic order helps to guide that process. Sometimes, a patient’s wellness plan can focus on building the bottom of the pyramid, which is establishing the foundation for optimum health. This could mean focusing on diet, hydration, exercise, stress, etc. On other occasions, we’ve traveled so far down the road in the disease process that we need to utilize higher force interventions such as pharmaceuticals or surgery in order to relieve symptoms. The therapeutic order builds upon itself, so even when we’re at the top and using high-force interventions, we’re also establishing the lower-force foundations for health. Each person may need to utilize different levels of the pyramid at different points in their life. Naturopathic doctors collaborate with each patient on an individualized plan that fits somewhere along this pyramid and refer to specialist providers when necessary. You can read more on the therapeutic order here.
How Are Naturopathic Doctors Trained?
Naturopathic doctors complete a rigorous educational training through an accredited naturopathic medical program that spans 4-6 years. The first half of these programs reviews the same basic biomedical and diagnostic sciences as conventionally trained doctors (MDs or DOs) and the second half of the program reviews both conventional and alternative treatment methods while the students participate in clinical care under the supervision of a licensed naturopathic physician. There are two examinations that naturopathic doctors must pass for licensure, similar to the examinations presented to conventionally trained doctors. In the state of Washington, naturopathic physicians are licensed to practice as primary care and specialty physicians.
Thank you for being here and for taking that first step in your wellness journey! I hope to see you soon.
In Health,
Dr. Heather
References:
AANMC. (2019). The therapeutic order - AANMC. The therapeutic order. https://aanmc.org/featured-articles/therapeutic-order/
AANP. (2011). Principles of naturopathic medicine - AANP. Principles of naturopathic medicine. https://naturopathic.org/page/PrinciplesNaturopathicMedicine
