{health and fitness}
Healthcare Choices on the Hill
Naturopathy and Homeopathy Physicians Practice at Lavender Retreat
W
hen was the last time one of your physicians spent an hour or two talking to you? How often during a physical does your doctor tell you about ways you can stay well and prevent disease? When was the last time a doctor prescribed a treatment that was custom-designed to fit the unique characteristics of you and your illness and its cause? How often do you leave your doctor’s office feeling empowered that you can feel better? Dornaz Amini, a homeopathic doctor, and Natalie Boulware, a naturopathic doctor, look at their patients as a whole – their mental, emotional, physical, social, and environmental states. They spend up to two hours with a patient, getting to know everything about them such as health history, stress level, lifestyle, family life, sleep patterns, and nutrition. They treat acute to chronic ailments in children and adults. They search for the reason of the illness, not just treat the symptom, and treat a patient with remedies that will bring the body, mind, and spirit back into balance and allow the body to heal itself. Amini and Boulware are both part of the wellness team that practices at Lavender Retreat on Capitol Hill. Homeopathy and naturopathy are systems of medicine that started in Europe about 200 years ago. Practiced worldwide as effective and gentle healing modalities for almost every medical condition, they may be called “functional medicine.” Amini and Boulware look at what a body should be doing in everyday life, then develop a customized, individualized treatment to get the body back to that state of optimal function. One doesn’t need to have an illness to see these doctors. It can be anything from a desire to lose weight to relieving allergies or balancing hormones. “Even the odd peculiar symptoms that can’t be diagnosed by a conventional western medical doctor are important to me,” said Dr. Amini.
Homeopathy In conventional or Western medical practice the aim of treatment is to eliminate the external cause
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by Pattie Cinelli (like bacteria) and eliminate the body’s natural reminerals, noble gases, and animal products. sponse (like swelling) that leads to healing. In conDr. Amini has a diverse academic background. trast, homeopathy looks at the symptom as a defense Not only is she a homeopathic doctor but she is mechanism the body is using to restore order. Hotrained in solution-focused counseling, has psychomeopathy strengthens bodily defenses and the abiltherapy training, studied acupuncture, is a practitioity to heal naturally. ner of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and “I grew up in a family of allopathic doctors. studied health coaching at Harvard University. “I But I was a trendsetter. I was fascinated with natuam fascinated how it all works together,” she said. ral medicine,” said Dr. AmiHomeopathy allows Dr. ni, who studied in Canada. “I Amini to go to the core of an knew I wanted to be in mediissue. During the often twocine and I wanted to help peohour initial appointment she ple heal, but I didn’t want to go asks a variety of questions. to medical school.” Dr. Amini “It’s like peeling the layers of said she met some who had exan onion.” treme chronic conditions, had tried everything, and turned Naturopathy to homeopathy as a last resort. Naturopathic doctors are When she sought information commonly referred to as genon homeopathy 10 years ago, eral practitioners of alternainformation was scarce. Then tive medicine. “We can bring she became very sick during fitogether traditional and modnal exams. “I was on three antiern medicines,” said Dr. Boulbiotics, not getting better, and ware. Naturopathy is a media friend said, ‘Why don’t you cal system that takes a holistic try homeopathy?’ It absolutely approach to health and healchanged my life!” ing. The practice uses many Dr. Dornaz Amini Homeopathic medimodalities such as nutrition, cine views symptoms of illexercise, acupuncture, masness as normal responses as sage, and herbal remedies the body attempts to regain (which may even include health. It is based on the idea homeopathy) to optimize the that like cures like. If a subbody’s ability to heal. stance causes a symptom in a Dr. Boulware is a physihealthy person, giving the percian-level trained specialist in son a very small amount of the complementary and alternasame substance may cure the tive medicine. She studied baillness. A homeopathic dose sic and medical science and enhances the body’s normal pharmacology and can write healing and self-regulatoprescriptions. “I hope not to ry processes. Dr. Amini uses prescribe but will if the body remedies from diluted natudoes not heal itself with othral substances that come from er methods,” she explained. the environment. The remeDr. Boulware was in her Dr. Natalie Boulware-Scott, dies are mostly from plants, last year of pre-med underNaturopathic Physician