In an increasingly complex world, people are sicker than ever before. The health problems facing us today are not the problems we experience even ten or twenty years ago. Those health problems now require a multimodality approach. How can patients leverage the system to get better and stay better? Enter Doctor-Coach Model.
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic Medicine is a specialized form of medicine born out of the idea that the body is interconnected and seeks to optimize health using guiding principles unique to the practice. These principles include:
- The Healing Power of Nature
- Identify and Treat the Causes
- Treat the Whole Person
- Doctor as Teacher
- Prevention
In my view, our principle of Doctor as Teacher is the most important of these tenants. Because Naturopathic Medicine recognizes the vis or innate healing capacity of the body, we aim to simulate and support the vis of the individual via varied tools as old as healing itself and as modern as today. You can read more about Naturopathic Medicine at www.naturopathic.org.
The skills of a Functional Health Coach work hand in hand with these principles. Let’s talk about it.
POV your patient says, “I’m sorry, you’re going to hate me but…”
One of the main pitfalls in patient care is follow through, and this is true for Naturopathic and other forms of medicine. This can result in the patient stalling out on progress, worsening in their condition(s), or giving up/burn out. Worst of all, the patient can feel like they failed.
Enter the Functional Health Coach and their ability to provide follow-up and wellness check-ins in between visits with the doctor. Those visits provide the time and space to continue educating about the patient’s condition, to assess how well that treatment plan is working, and to continue to dig deeply into the history of the patient. The Functional Health Coach provides that support in the belief that a patient can get better.
And while there are many factors for why this can happen (which may not have anything to do with the effort of the patient), I see it often in clinical practice. Lifestyle and diet interventions take time. Invest in your health by seeking a collaborative team for your integrative care. Naturopathic Medicine and Functional Health Coaching are aligned in their desire to teach patients about their illness, develop and implement treatment plans, and having a system in place for continued making progress.
Dr. Fox is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor located in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Fox has extensive experience aiding people suffering from persistent/chronic Lyme disease, mold biotoxin illness, CIRS, and autoimmune conditions. He is an expert in bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) and advanced intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) therapies.
