Dr. Rak believes that naturopathy is a study of the human existence. 

Most contemporary medicine is concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, with the focus being the disease entity.  In this model diseases are discrete dispositions with most being classified by the involved organ system and being treated by a specialist in that organ system.  Treatment is typically based on drugs that are designed specifically for a particular disease and optimized to act as specifically as possible on the target within the organ system. 

Naturopathy posits that nothing happens in the body in isolation.  Every part of the body is important in both health and disease from the complexity of the brain down to the smallest capillary blood vessels.  We don’t look at disease as a scourge to be fought, but rather as an absence of health.  Our therapies as thus designed to restore health, so that the body may rid itself of disease.  Hence, naturopathy is adept at empowering both the person and their body to operate in a fashion that is in greater accord with their own personal optimal health.

The art of naturopathic medicine works to fully understand the processes that contributed to the state of disease, so that a treatment can be designed to put the least amount of strain on the person.  This least-force approach seeks to utilize stretching and nutrition rather than cortisone shots and pain pills.  We seek to remove the cause of the disease rather than making the disease state more comfortable.

Naturopathic medicine works to understand all methods of treatment available so that the therapeutic protocol can be tailored to fit each individual person.  Each treatment approach offered has been well-studied, and the doctor would be happy to discuss the theory behind its use as well as the evidence of its efficacy.  This is another facet of the empowerment offered by the Naturopath.  One of the tenets of naturopathy is to empower people through knowledge.  We hope to educate about health so that the people that come to see us can be better able to take care of themselves, rather than being reliant upon someone else for their well-being. 

Naturopaths believe in an innate healing intelligence that all living things possess.  We seek to connect with this in our conversations, stimulate it with our water therapies, and share this intelligence found in plants through our utilization of herbal therapeutics. 

Health is not something that can be given or found.  It is something that must be worked for and achieved.  This is not something that is accomplished by mindlessly eating, working out, and taking pills, but rather something that is accomplished through a thoughtful and mindful existence.  However, one needs to keep in mind that a disease is like a hole – the deeper it is, the more effort will be needed to reach the surface. 

Please, allow me to bring two shovels.