During difficult periods of stress – when pain, unstable moods, poor memory and inability to cope rear their ugly heads – it can be very helpful to seek out the advice of a health practitioner. They can help you with the symptoms of stress as you find the time to bring your life back into balance.
But who to call?
Your doctor has a few goodies in her tool-kit, like anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs and counselling. Complementary health practitioners — like naturopaths, osteopaths, traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapists, etc. — all have methods to treat stress that may be more effective in the long run and work to rebalance your system. I’ve been to quite a few different practitioners and have found pros and cons to each of them. I’ll share my experience with you and add some great resources I’ve found on the Web.
Let’s talk about naturopaths
Naturopathic medicine is another form of primary care – the front line for health concerns. They’re looking for the root causes of illness or disease, not just the symptoms. They promote health and healing using therapies derived from the natural world.
Natural is a loose term here as many naturopaths rely on supplements. Sure, they can be derived from natural sources, but sometimes they pull one or more active ingredients from a natural product and then put it into pill form, much like pharmaceuticals. Some of the therapies that NDs draw from are:
- Clinical nutrition – food is medicine! NDs may suggest special diets or nutritional supplements such as vitamins, minerals, or enzymes.
- Botanical/Herbal medicine – using plant substances to stimulate healing and add nutritional value
- Homeopathy – using minute amounts of natural substances based on your personal profile to stimulate the self-healing abilities of the body.
- Physical therapies – like massage, hydrotherapy, use of light, heat and cold, or instruments like ultrasounds.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine – acupuncture and Oriental herbs
So how do you find a good ND?
Ask people you trust for a recommendation. Why, specifically, do they like working with them and what the are the ND’s best qualities? What they would change about the relationship? These questions will get to what they value in the relationship and you can tell whether it matches your values. You may be really into their knowledge of herbs and supplements while your friend may really value their empathy.
A typical story of working through stress with a naturopath can be found at Best Health Magazine.
Here are 5 things to insist on:
1 – You feel completely heard by your naturopath and feel they understand where you are.
Success comes from following the treatment plan your ND creates for you, so see if you feel a level of trust and teamwork between you. If you don’t feel that you’re able to discuss the treatment plan then you probably don’t have the right naturopath.
2 – You don’t walk away feeling like you’ve been talked into doing a lot of tests.
Yes, there are a lot of really cool tests you can do. You can test your hormone levels, your sensitivity to foods and a ton of other really interesting things. But they’re expensive and your ND should be able to give you a really good reason for you to invest in them.
3 – They make recommendations to food and exercise that you can implement yourself.
Your treatment plan should be easy to follow and implement yourself. You may choose to speak to a holistic nutritionist or exercise specialist, but it shouldn’t be required to follow the plan.
4 – They have a solid clinical education.
There are different levels of professional certification within naturopathic circles. In Ontario and British Columbia, naturopaths are licensed and have had four years of training with supervision and practicums. In Alberta they are regulated. In the United States the distinction between different types of naturopaths isn’t as clear. Some can train in distance programs for under 1000 hours and others require thousands of hours combined with practicums. If you’re in the States and interested in more information, you can find it here.
5 – They recommend good quality products.
There are a lots and lots of supplements and natural products on the market and few of them are tested for quality. In the U.S. when there’s no government-verified seal on the label then there’s only a 2 in 3 chance that the contents will match the label. I’ve written about the ins and outs of knowing what’s in the bottle here.
The bottom line is that you should feel like you have good communication with your ND, that the diagnostic and treatment plans fit within your budget and you’re getting good quality products. A good naturopath is an amazing ally to beating back stress.