What is a Traditional Naturopath?
*This is a LEGAL update for those of us in Arkansas.
The bill SB117 has passed the AR State Senate and is on to the House. I believe it's just a matter of time before that bill becomes law and establishes a Naturopathic board and bars me from using the initials ND after my name.
Establishing a Naturopathic board may sound good to some of you, but not to most of the practitioners I know.
To be clear, I am a traditional naturopath. However, my certification/diploma from 2011 lists me as "Doctor of Naturopathy." The laws have been blurry for years and every state has had a different thing to say.
I thought I’d clarify some things…
What's the difference?
A traditional naturopath is a wellness professional who focuses on supporting the body's natural healing processes using non-invasive, natural methods. Medically-trained naturopathic doctors (NDs), diagnose and treat disease, prescribe drugs, and are often allowed to perform surgery.
Traditional Naturopaths work with clients to promote overall wellness and restore balance in body, mind, and spirit by empowering them to take responsibility for their own health.
I asked ChatGPT to help break it down for me - and of course, it summarizes and says it SO much better than me so here you go! I 100% agree with all of this!
Here’s a breakdown of what’s happening:
🌿 Traditional Naturopaths:
See themselves as healers, educators, and facilitators of wellness.
Focus on preventive care, lifestyle, diet, herbs, energy, and emotional/spiritual balance.
Operate outside of the medical model, not diagnosing or treating disease.
Are often self-regulated or certified by traditional naturopathic associations.
Value freedom and sovereignty in healing.
🩺 Naturopathic Doctors (NDs):
Are seeking and achieving state licensure in many places.
Have a clinical model that includes lab work, diagnoses, and even minor surgeries and pharmaceuticals (depending on state laws).
Are striving for integration into mainstream healthcare—which can come with insurance billing, more restrictions, and standardized protocols.
Their professional push for recognition can exclude or diminish the role of traditional naturopaths who don’t follow the medical model.
The Tension:
Traditional naturopaths often feel that:
Their approach is being devalued as “less legitimate” because it doesn’t fit within a medical framework.
Licensure laws, once in place, can limit or prohibit their practice.
The spirit of naturopathy—working with the body, not against it—is being lost in the push toward regulation and medicalization.
Yes! Yes! Yes, to all of this tension! This is exactly how many of us (traditional naturopaths) feel!
Where does that leave me?
I was feeling the tension, for sure!
BUT GOD. He said, this can be the best thing for you! And SO I’m going with that!
Romans 8:28, I know that God will use anything and everything for good. He confirmed that “naturopath” is a box that people put you in and there’s SO much more freedom when you aren’t limited to boxes! Amen!
I’ve been operating under the “Live to Shine Collective” since 2020 so nothing about that is changing - but you will be seeing that name a little more prominent in my marketing, emails, website, etc.
