by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 13, 2014 | Healing Stories, Naturopathic Philosophy
Image source: Wikipedia
“Once Henry discovered that the autoimmune disease was a manifestation of his own self-criticism, his symptoms slowly began to subside.”
“I told the couple to stop spending so much time together. They were then able to rekindle their desire and found that their sex life improved dramatically.”
I read a lot of books. Many of these books are on alternative healing and often contain the running theme of cunning practitioners who bore into the core of the case, bring it to the client’s willing attention and <poof!> solve a long-standing with the snap of two fingers on their healing hands.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 13, 2014 | Balance, Finding yourself, Mindfulness, Naturopathic Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology
Image source: nohone.net
From the Art & Practice draft archives.
Things aren’t always what they seem. So goes the old adage.
The smiling mother chasing her kids in the park may be battling an ugly divorce or struggling with the guilt of a turbid affair. The white picket fence may not display the undercurrent story of addiction that runs through her life’s narrative. The beautiful home across the street provides a shiny façade that hides the modern-day enslavement to an unpleasant job that pays the mortgage.
I’ve come to understand that as a society we value the appearance of things rather than their actual value. We display to the world the happy side of life. We portray to others a sense of perfection and cover up the less-than-desirable aspects of our lives, creating the illusion that our lives are perfect and successful, free of suffering and pain.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 18, 2014 | Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic, Student
When I was in my 2nd year at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, one of our professors, Dr. Leslie Solomonian, had our class answer 9 reflection questions. Once we had finished she collected them and told us we’d get them back once we were ready to graduate. Last week, during a celebratory lunch for our graduating class, she handed us back our reflections, giving us a chance to look back on the 4 years we’ve spent as naturopathic medical students – especially our 12 months working directly with patients in clinic, putting our naturopathic principles and modalities into practice – in order to realize how far we’ve come. Here are my answers:
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 18, 2013 | Evidence Based Medicine, Health, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Politics, Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic
Nettle tea: a botanical with the potential to treat acne… and not cause sudden death. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.
How does naturopathic medicine treat acne? Well, it’s quite simple, really. We turn our focus to the root cause of disease. Is there a hormonal component? Is lack of hygiene an issue? Are food sensitivities at play? Is an increased toxic load on the body resulting in an elevated burden on the skin to detoxify? Is there a mental-emotional cause or result of this acne?
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 13, 2013 | Health, Lifestyle, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic
When I hear the phrase, “So, Dr. Oz says…” in clinic, I feel like casting my eyes to the heavens and throwing up my arms. Hearing the successful cardiologist’s name means I either need to explain why this particular person doesn’t need to be on that particular supplement, why this caution is not applicable in this person’s case or why a certain treatment that this famous doctor recommends is probably not the best thing for this particular person at this particular time.
It’s great the there is someone in the media who is wildly popular singing natural medicine’s praises. It’s wonderful that people like him, watch his show and get excited about empowering themselves when it comes to their health. However, I have beef with hearing his name mentioned repeatedly in patient visits. The main reason: Dr. Oz is not a naturopathic doctor.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Aug 28, 2013 | Acupuncture, Health, Homeopathy, Meditation, Nature, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Nutrition, Philosophy, Preventive Medicine
First things first: sunshine, fresh air and clean water.
Contrary to common belief naturopathic doctors are not just doctors who prescribe natural remedies to patients. (This means you can not avoid visiting a naturopathic doctor by going to a local health-food store and prescribing yourself a bunch of vitamins and supplements!) After all, as previously “naturopathic” therapies invade scientific literature, more up-to-date medical doctors are prescribing things like fish oil and probiotics to their patients. However, this doesn’t make them naturopathic doctors any more than prescribing rights make us medical doctors! Naturopathic doctors differ from the traditional medical model not so much in what we prescribe or our principles (do no harm, treat the whole person, prevent disease, doctor as teacher, support the body, treat the cause), which medical doctors arguably share with us, but in something called the Therapeutic Order.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Aug 21, 2013 | Food, Hydrotherapy, Natural Body Care, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Self-care, Women's health
It had been a while since I’d truly taken a vacation. After handing in 4 case management forms (CMFs) and writing 1 exam, and endless weeks of seeing patients in clinic, putting the health of others above and beyond my own, I decided that I would hang back from my rat race of assignments, expectations and obligations and indulge in a little self-care at my favourite hydrotherapy haven, Body Blitz.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jul 9, 2013 | Health, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Philosophy, Preventive Medicine, Treating the Cause
Many people come to see a naturopathic doctor only after they have already been to see everyone else, having run around the ring of the conventional medical establishment, all to have them conclude, “there’s nothing wrong with you.” Sometimes a patient might have heard, “it’s all in your head,” but they basically mean the same thing: “there’s nothing we can do for you. Now please leave us alone.” For the patient it might be a nice to hear that nothing serious is the the matter with them when the blood tests and other diagnostic testing come back negative, however, the symptoms that caused them to seek help in the first place still persist, leaving them feeling hopeless and confused.
After traveling to Costa Rica I experienced rapid weight gain, which I could not attribute to a change in diet or a sedentary lifestyle; I still watched what I ate and exercised. The feeling that I was gaining weight despite what I did made me feel helpless, like my body was acting of its own accord. It damaged the trust I had in my body, hindering the relationship I have with it, and the feelings of getting larger in a society that praises thinness made me feel self-conscious and ashamed.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jun 17, 2013 | Balance, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Healing Stories, Health, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Philosophy, Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic
I am currently reading the book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, MBSR, a mindful meditation program that I am currently taking, and I came across this paragraph that I thought was worth sharing with all of you:
“You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the word health itself means ‘whole’. Whole implies integration, an interconnectedness of all parts of a system or organism, a completeness. The nature of wholeness is that it is always present.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 15, 2013 | Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic
What is naturopathic medicine? My colleagues and I are often stumped to answer the question. Not because we aren’t aware of what we do but because our philosophy has become so deeply ingrained in our own skin that it’s hard to separate it from the rest of us. What’s naturopathic medicine? Why, it’s everything! How do you explain that? One of our assignments for 3rd year Practice Management was to write an elevator speech, a short 60-second blurb explaining naturopathic medicine to a curious elevator mate. Here is the one I came up with. I hope it conveys that everyone can benefit from what naturopathic doctors do.
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