The world is divided into Naturopathic Physicians and Traditional Naturopaths. One is the good, Ahura Mazda, the god of creative order and the other is the evil Ahriman, who seeks to destroy order and goodness with his horde of demons. Where you stand on the issues and whose side you support then defines who is walking in the light and who is with the tide of darkness..

Naturopathy is a “tiered” profession, politically, legislativlly, and philosophically. There are Naturopathic Physicians and Traditional Naturopaths. The “Physicians,” while they receive a lot more medical training, don’t necessarily receive any better training in basic natural healing than the “Traditionals.” In fact, some would argue that Traditional Naturopaths tend to be more natural and vitalistic in their approach. Both schools have maintained that their natural practices are benign, non-invasive, and support the body’s innate forces for healing. It would be hard then, to make the case that such practices “endanger the public.” Yet Naturopathic Physicians have sought to restrict the practice of the Traditional Naturopaths in many states, claiming they are the only ones qualified to practice natural healing.

Fortunately, we are a in relatively sane period of health freedom. Many states have seen through the arguments of the Naturopathic Physicians. California, and Minnesota, for instance have laws in place that allow both classes of Naturopaths to practice. This trend of tiered professions is going to continue. It has already happened in Physical Therapy with the institution of a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. Nutrition Dietetics is moving towards a clinical doctorate also and there are Doctor of Nutrition programs already in existence. Chiropractic has essentially the same divide. There is a significant group in that profession who would like to be Chiropractic Physicians (many already use that term). One the other hand, there are traditional Chiropractors who don’t want to mix medical practice with hands-on adjustments. Ironically, it was the Chiropractic schools who kept Naturopathy alive by offering ND degrees into the 1950s. It would probably be the best for their profession (and all of us) if Chiropractic develops formal tiering. What natural healing professionals and consumers need is open practice legislation that supports a variety of philosophical approaches and techniques–as long as the individual practitioner has training and met some kind of qualifying standards.

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