By Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO

Photo by mdemon via Flickr, used under the Creative Commons License.For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So while yesterday my partner and I spent a marvelous day on a coastal Maine beach and then enjoyed fish tacos, it makes sense that today I am holed up in my office whittling away at my to-do list. That does not mean that I am happy about it. In fact, I am rather grumpy about being in the office. I have tried to remind myself that, in reality, I should simply be grateful that I had the opportunity to spend time at a beach yesterday – so many cannot. I should also be happy that I have a to-do list and an office within which I can work on that list. Easier said than done. I am reminded of something that I read a while back. When one has a headache, instead of dwelling in the pain and discomfort, see it as an opportunity to be grateful for having a head in which to experience an ache, and to enlarge one’s focus to the entire head holding the ache.

Maybe then I too have an opportunity to focus on the day holding this grumpiness, not on the grumpiness itself. It does help actually. Suddenly my irritability becomes a small part of my big day, a day which is still mostly unwritten. As my grumpiness shrinks, I am reminded that the attitude with which I am approaching my tasks is simply that – an attitude. While it is true that by feeling grumpy, I can better understand and appreciate its opposite – happiness and gratitude – it is also true that I can change my attitude whenever I choose. While wallowing in negative emotions has a certain stickiness factor, it is not an insurmountable task to let these negative emotions go. Sometimes, to do this, I focus on the emotion (anger, irritability, etc.) and then take a deep breath, purse my lips and blow this anger/irritability/etc. out. Let it go, literally and figuratively. By now, after writing all of this, my grumpiness is truly a withered feeling in the past part of this day.

Funny how, now that I am feeling more contented, my day seems filled with many more possibilities. Maybe I can finish early and take a walk in the woods, spend some time on the back porch… Who knows? So in the end my grumpiness is held within my much bigger day, just as a headache happens in a much bigger head, and we are each so much bigger than our discrete challenges.

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By Christopher Johnson, ND

Photo by Eggybird via Flickr, used under the Creative Commons License.As a naturopathic physician I work regularly with patients who have emotional imbalances, sometimes as a chief complaint, and sometimes as simply one symptom amongst many. It seems that having some degree of anxiety and/or depression is simply a part of being human – most persons experience them at some point in their lives.

In practice, I have had significant success in treating clinical psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depressive disorders, ADHD/behavioral disorders, PTSD, bipolar affective disorder and panic disorder using homeopathy. Most patients who come to me for help with these conditions are using psychotropic medications, but are often able to discontinue or reduce the dosage of these meds (under the supervision of whoever prescribed them) once they experience improvement.

In addition to treating clinically diagnosable psychiatric conditions, homeopathy is also extremely effective at treating everyday anxieties, irritabilities, moods, etc. Literally every day I see patients who come back for their first follow up visit to tell me they feel less anxious, irritable, etc. This, even though many of these patients did not come to me for help with emotional issues and in some cases were not even aware the issues were present until they took the homeopathic remedy, became healthy, and realized how good it feels to be without emotional imbalances.

Not only do many patients tell me they feel less anxious or depressed, I actually expect it from every patient. If it is not so, I have not given them the correct homeopathic remedy and they are not truly healing. A healthy body is an emotionally calm and happy body.

Homeopathy restores health quickly, gently and usually in a permanent fashion by stimulating the body’s own healing capacity.

People are often amazed to see that emotional issues can be resolved without years of psychotherapy, yet this is common with homeopathic treatment. In other cases, patients who are undergoing psychotherapy and are intellectually aware of their issues but unable to resolve them often have rapid progress upon initiating homeopathic treatment. I have seen patients suffering from anxiety for 30 years have it resolved within weeks of homeopathic treatment.

The fact that homeopathic remedies affect the body in this manner is not trivial. Two recent major studies demonstrated that anxiety is a very significant risk factor for heart disease – as much or more than hypertension, elevated cholesterol, etc. An anxious or depressed body is one out of balance and at risk for all manner of diseases.

Unlike conventional medical treatments, homeopathy has no side effects and the positive effects are curative (to the extent the body is capable of healing) – meaning that treatment need only proceed for a finite time period, after which the patient no longer need use the homeopathic remedy to remain healthy. This was demonstrated in a 2008 study which followed 3,709 patients for 8 years. It found, “Patients who seek homeopathic treatment are likely to improve considerably. These effects maintain for as long as 8 years.”

The following is a sampling of trials demonstrating homeopathy’s effectiveness in treating psychiatric disorders:

In a 2009 randomized, double-blind trial at a Brazilian state medical school, homeopathy outperformed Fluoxetine (Prozac) on all measured parameters in treatment of moderate to severe depression.

A 2006 study of 1,783 patients receiving homeopathic treatment for a variety of complaints found, “Strongly positive outcomes… were achieved most notably in the frequently treated conditions of anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome.”

A 2005 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the European Journal of Pediatrics found, “scientific evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of ADHD, particularly in the areas of behavioral and cognitive functions.”

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By Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc
AANP President
The days of summer are filled as we approach our annual convention and elect our newest AANP leaders.

As I write this, the AANP convention in Portland is only 3 weeks away! All over the country and especially in Washington, D.C., preparations are underway to make this one of our best gatherings to date. As I’m sure you all know, this year we mark our 25th anniversary as an organization and we plan to celebrate in a big way as we look back at the accomplishments the AANP has made and, more importantly, look to the future and imagine what we can accomplish in the next 25 years.

In the days before the convention opens, leaders from the naturopathic profession will gather in Portland to focus on business and planning. The AANP Board has a two-day meeting planned including a one-day board retreat to focus on how to increase our effectiveness as a team. The House of Delegates will meet and consider a variety of topics including ethics and standards of care. The Naturopathic Coordinating Council, a summit of leaders from across our profession, will come together at NCNM to develop a strategic vision for the viability, sustainability, and success of the naturopathic medical profession in the context of global health and wellbeing. These are but a few of the meetings held in advance of the big event.

On Wednesday, August 11th, the fun begins as our tribe comes together for four days of education, reconnection, and celebration. The quality of the continuing education sessions is outstanding, with many of our favorite speakers and teachers presenting, including Dr. Steve Austin, Dr. Jared Zeff, Dr. Joe Pizzorno, Dr. Michael Traub, Dr. Lise Alschuler, Dr. Dickson Thom, and a host of others who are very popular with our convention attendees. Personally I’m really looking forward to Drs. Schor and Bloom’s session on gelotology and hope my busy schedule allows me to attend as many sessions as possible.

As great as our sessions are, the reconnections we make each year (seeing old friends and making new ones) and the alumni events and receptions are what reinvigorate and inspire me the most. We are a relatively small profession, which makes it possible to know many of our peers on a very personal level. The friendship and intimacy we have as a group is very special and becomes especially evident when we come together.

There will also be more time for fun with a family picnic planned for Friday afternoon and, of course, our gala awards banquet and dance on Saturday night. We have quite an evening planned, where we will honor our leaders and pioneers as well as look forward to the potential this profession has in improving the health of our patients, the nation, and the world. This is an event not to be missed! As the Beatles would say, “A splendid time is guaranteed for all.” I hope to see you all there.

On July 24th, our voting opens for our next President-Elect as well as new board members. The AANP is a member-driven organization. We elect our leaders to represent our interests, and the officers and board members of the AANP consider this with every discussion and decision we make. We are here to serve you and to meet your needs as best we can, and your input into the elections process and your vote are crucially important in choosing our leaders and the direction the AANP takes.

I am very impressed by our list of candidates this year. All have demonstrated leadership and a desire to serve. We have two of our finest running for President-Elect: Dr. Tim Birdsall and Dr. Michael Cronin. Both have extensive leadership experience, are committed to the profession and the AANP, and have a clear vision as to how to move this profession forward. Please take the time to read the candidates statements and the responses to the weekly “Meet the Candidates” emails you’ve been receiving so you can choose who best fits your vision for the AANP.

And most importantly, VOTE. The voting is easy, will be online this year, and will close August 6th. Make your voice be heard!

I look forward to seeing you all in Portland at what promises to be a memorable event!