Naturopathy is a range of different practices and methods that aim to help certain illnesses and conditions by simply aiding the body’s natural process of healing. The different practices may include things like manual therapy, herbalism, hydrotherapy, counseling, acupuncture, environmental medicine and aromatherapy. Practitioners take a holistic approach. The United States first introduced this concept of healing and today many countries across the world practice it in one way or another.

Naturotherapy, like the name suggests, tries to be as natural as possible. This includes using natural remedies such as herbs and foods in favor of artificial drugs.

In the early 1900s, Benedict Lust first used the term ‘naturopathy’ in health practices in Germany and in 1905 founded the American School of Naturopathy in New York. He then went on inaugurating many other schools around the different states. Naturopathy went into a brief decline in the 1930s when science took over and people began to use artificial drugs for combating diseases. Although during this time period, naturopathy was not popular, it did not become completely abolished. In places like India, Gandhi popularized the study of naturopathy in the 1900s and continues to be just as popular today. There are several schools available where one can study naturopathy and gain a bachelor degree in it.

Naturopathic practitioners in the United States are private individuals that have been trained in conventional medicine. They graduate from a four-year accredited medical school. Their focus is on nutrition, manipulative therapy, pharmacology, hydrotherapy, botanical medicine, joint manipulation and other additional minor surgeries. They work in conjunction with conventional practitioners continually trying to provide a complete medical system for patients.

Naturopathy incorporates several stages firstly identifying the healing power of nature, then identifying and treating the cause, then being careful to do no harm, then treating the whole person, understanding the physician as the teacher and then teaching about prevention.

For one to be a naturopathic practitioner in the United States, he or she has to be fully registered and licensed under the correct governing body. It is not advised to go to an unregistered practitioner as the study of naturopathy is heavily monitored for standards to be legal and legitimate.

As we become more and more aware of alternative medicines in the western world, the treatments described under Naturotherapy are becoming more and more popular. It is almost come full circle where in the beginning we were using such natural products before science changed our way of thinking. Now we are starting to believe that science is not our only option.