What type of naturopath would you prefer to see? One who’s just like you who has a few vices and enjoys their life (but knows when and what to rein it in to keep healthy)? Or one who is a purist and never relaxes their high level expectations, looking down at you from their conceitedly perfect existence? I’m sure a lot of people resist going to see a naturopath because they think they won’t be able to live up to their perceived expectations of what they’ll need to do. They may think “I don’t want to have to buy everything organic” or “I like my wine and chocolate too much and don’t want to be told I can never have it again” or “I don’t like goats milk, carob, or kale and I’m sure I’ll be told to have these instead of the foods I love”.

The beauty of naturopathy is that it is tailored to the individual. It is in my best interest to create a treatment plan that will not only be effective for you, but also feels realistic and achievable for you. What is the use of a perfect treatment plan if it is just too hard to follow. A person who is completely daunted is more likely to do nothing at all. On the other hand, if the instructions are not scary and feel achievable, they are more likely to follow them and will get far better results.

As a real, non-purist naturopath I come from a place of non-judgement and acceptance. How can I relate to my clients and their health struggles if I’m perfect! I like a wine and some chocolate often, I love a really good licorice all-sort and why on earth would I say no to a piece of my friends birthday cake. I don’t live an organic, macrobiotic, gluten free, dairy free, vegan lifestyle so why would I expect you to. Life is about moderation and balance and being healthy most of the time but knowing when to enjoy yourself and take the pressure off. Besides, it promotes relaxation, connection with family and friends and happiness and all that “good” far outweighs the occasional “bad”.

We are all on our own health journey, some of us are just at the beginning and other may be well advanced. The benefit of seeing a naturopath is that we work with you and your lifestyle and where you are at on your health journey. This ensures you obtain results that are realistic and achievable for you.

I’m sure most people would prefer to go to a naturopath who’s not a purist living the perfect existence. What about you?