Naturopathic Course

Having trained in various disciplines over the years of being a practitioner and seeing how they all enhanced my understanding of health and disease I decided to write a course that I would have loved to have done 30 years ago, when I was first starting out on my alternative medical training. The course starts with an exploration of Eastern medicine and provides a detailed study of Ayurveda, Chinese five elements, Tibetan Medicine and Unani (Greek/Persian) medicine. Once you have this grounding you then study homeopathic philosophy which underpins naturopathic philosophy. By the time you reach the naturopathic module you will find that the philosophy is second nature to you. The rest of the course builds on this foundation and covers Iridology, Hydrotherapy, an introduction to Homotoxicology, Psychology and Psychosocial skills and finishes with a detailed module about the effects of Dentistry and health. I have added this last module because I believe the effects of dentistry are often overlooked, ignored or attributed to something else. I feel it is of the utmost importance for practitioners to understand the effects that oral health has upon the overall health of the body.
This course is perfect for any therapist wanting to understand more about alternative medicine and truly understand the root cause of disease. It can be done after the Nutritional Therapist course, the Advanced Nutritional Therapy course or as an adjunct for another discipline. It is a standalone course because it studies Eastern Medicine in depth and then relates this to our current understanding of Western Medicine. This course leads to being able to apply for Registered Naturopath (ND) status with the Society of Naturopaths (SoN) alongside your main discipline which must be 2-3 years of training and be naturopathic in its approach. Examples of disciplines include Nutritional Therapy, Kinesiology, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, etc.

Modules may be purchased separately as well. Please contact the college for details: School of Health

The following gives a very brief overview of each module:

Unit 1: Ayurveda

History, Sankhya Philosophy, Tanmatra, the three Guna, the five elements, the tri Dosha, 15 sub Doshas, the Dhatus and Srotas, Agni and Ama, Samprapti (the six stage disease process), faulty food combination, diet and lifestyle to balance Doshas and for seasonal eating, Ayurvedic food energetics, herbs, basics of tongue diagnosis, yoga postures for balancing each Dosha and chakras and their relation to health and disease.

Unit 2: Chinese Medicine

History (five phases/elements, stems and branches, development of TCM), yin and yang, the five fundamental textures, the organs, the six pernicious influences, the seven emotions, the eight principle patterns, theory of Ayurvedic acupuncture and the links between Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, Chinese five elements in detail, sheng and Ko cycles and nutrition and Chinese food energetics.

Unit 3: Tibetan and Unani Medicine

Tibetan medicine history and main concepts, the mind and the three mental poisons, the three humours, the 15 sub humours, seven body constituents, Dhang, the organs, disease and Tibetan diagnosis, Tibetan food energetics, diet and lifestyle, seasonal eating.

Unani medicine history, Unani medical concepts, the seven natural principles, the four elements, the four states of matter, temperament and humours, maintenance of health, the six essential causes, balance and imbalance, abnormal humours and temperaments, the disease process, black bile as a cause of disease, Unani methods of diagnosis, temperaments and modern psychology influences. Unani food energetics.

Unit 4: Homeopathy

History, philosophy, Herings Law of cure, miasms theory, flower formulas, tissue salts, proving of remedies, potentization, homeopathy in practice, homeopathic first aid, 50 common remedies to use in practice.

Unit 5: Naturopathy

History and development of Naturopathy, modern naturopathy, therapeutic order, core principles, reductionism v vitalism, theory of naturopathic nutrition: electrolyte balance, acute and chronic eliminations, naturopathic case taking, naturopathic techniques.

Unit 6: An Introduction to Homotoxicology

The science behind homeopathy: minimum dose, Avogadro’s constant, Nano dose, Arndt Schultz law, resonance. Law of similars, dynamization of the substance, water and sugar polymers; various sources of toxins, the basics of Homotoxicology: extra cellular matrix or ground substance of Alfred Pischinger, regulatory systems and feedback systems, Bioregulatory medicine, three pillars of Homotoxicology, greater defence system, acidosis, immune by stander reaction, six phase table/disease evolution table; using simple Homotoxicology remedies in practice.

Unit 7: Psychosocial Skills

Part 1: overview of psychotherapeutic interventions for alternative practitioners, psychotherapeutic models: psychodynamic, humanistic, transpersonal and cognitive behaviour approaches; the human stress trauma response, the limbic system, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, fight flight freeze responses, polyvagal theory, regulating the flight, fight, freeze response, regulating social engagement, A-B-C personalities, assessing stress trauma, the therapeutic process; the practitioner’s role and the clients role; psychotherapeutic treatment strategies, projection and transference, psychotherapeutic intervention.

Part 2: the general adaptation syndrome (Selye), PNEI, stress and how it affects the different systems in the body, adverse childhood events and attachment issues, learned helplessness, self-mutation, stress and addictions, perception of stress, social economic status and health, allostasis and allostatic load, adrenal fatigue, pregnenolone steal, clinical tests for adrenal fatigue, functional tests for adrenal fatigue, recovery from adrenal fatigue: diet, supplements and herbs; monitoring and supporting stress levels in clients, flower formulas, Bach remedies, the Enneagram, Jungian personality types, Myers Briggs personality types, David Keirsey personality types. 

Unit 8: Iridology

History of Iridology, classical and modern iridology, anatomy of the iris, iris charts and zones of the iris, pupil size and shape, colour on the iris, stomach and intestinal zones, the collerette, contraction furrows and nerve rings, cholesterol ring, sodium ring, lymphatic rosary, scurf ring, arcus senilis; degrees of disease seen in the iris: lacunae, crypts and defect signs; radii, transversals, spleen sign and hypothalamus sign. American and Australian constitutions, German constitutions: lymphatic constitution, mixed biliary constitution and haematogenic constitution. Disposition and diathesis, sub constitutions: neurogenic, neuro-lymphatic, anxiety tetanic, glandular, mesenchymal pathological, cardio-abdominal, Lipaemic, hydrogenoid, pancreatic, uric acid, kidney lymphatic, Dyscratic, miasmic; Emotional/behavioural iridology, miasms, modern iridology and latest research.

Unit 9: Hydrotherapy

History, theory: latent heat, the use of hot and cold, conduction and convection, hot and cold effects upon circulation and metabolism; properties of water, importance of circulation, buoyancy, reflex areas and dermatomes, various hydrotherapy manipulations, practice of hydrotherapy, showers, ablutions, affusions, alternating and contrast treatments, fomentations, compresses and packs, Balneotherapy (baths), internal therapy, various conditions and suggested hydrotherapy techniques.

Unit 10: Oral Health

History, the research of Weston Price, Royal Lee, Percy Howe, Drs Mellanby; teeth, meridian charts and dental foci; tooth anatomy, the gut-mouth connection, oxidative stress, dental pathology: NICO, cavitations, gingivitis, periodontal disease and CAP, effects of modern dentistry on health: extractions, overlays, fillings, bridges, overlays, implants, galvanism, root canals; mercury: dangers of and removal of, detoxification procedures, lab tests, cleft palate, tongue tie, oral health: oil pulling, various mouthwash essential oil recipes, homemade toothpastes.

For more information see the School of Health website.