What to Expect with Naturopathic Medicine

The depth and breadth of naturopathic medical education is very broad, therefore it is common to find lots of variation between practices of naturopathic doctors. Whether you have never been to a naturopath, or you have been to many naturopaths, you can always expect a unique experience. While we can’t tell you what to expect while visiting another naturopathic doctor, we can tell you what to expect when you visit the Fountainhead Clinic.

The Free Consultation

We allow all potential patients a free 15 - 30 minute consultation in order to speak with us before deciding that our treatment is right for you. During this time, we will ask you tell us about yourself, so we can give you a quick estimation of how likely it will be that we can help you. We also allow this time for you to ask any questions you might have.

The Initial Visit

During your initial visit, you can expect to block out a good portion of your day. We generally spend 3-5 hours during this visit collecting information about your health and history, and getting to know you as a whole person. The information exchanged during this visit allows us to establish a proper diagnosis, assess your current health, prescribe the initial homeopathic remedy and come up with a unique treatment plan for you. It is important that during this visit you be as open and honest with us as possible. The more honest you are, the better we can help you. We also use this time to discuss your treatment options, and to answer any other questions you might have. Sometimes, you will go home with your first homeopathic remedy at the end of this visit. Though most of the time we will want to study your case more in depth, to ensure that we prescribe the correct remedy on the first try. In this case, you will come back in a few days to pick up your remedy.

The First Follow Up

The first follow up visit usually occurs 1-2 weeks after the initial visit. At this time we will go through all of the concerns and symptoms you told us about initially, to see if they are better, if so, how much better, and if any new symptoms have come up. This time allows us to determine how well you are responding to homeopathic treatment. At this visit we will also recommend any additional labs, nutrients, medications, therapies, or dietary changes we think would be beneficial for you.

Subsequent Follow Up

Subsequent follow up varies from person to person, depending on how well you respond to homeopathic treatment. Generally follow ups are more frequent in the beginning of treatment and become more spaced out as your health improves. Proper follow up is the single most important aspect of your treatment because it allows us to monitor your progress and change therapies as necessary to ensure that your progression towards health is as quick and smooth as possible.

Therapies Used

As mentioned above, the scope of education for naturopathic doctors is very broad. Since they are well versed in so many different therapies, most naturopathic doctors will choose to specialize in one or two therapies to ensure that they use these therapies the most proficiently and effectively. Dr. Janikula and Dr. McNeal are experts in using homeopathy to treat mental illness. They use homeopathy as there primary therapy because they have found it to be the most effective for treating all types of mental illness. The other therapies they use are only to support the healing process initiated by homeopathy. Other therapies which they commonly use are thyroid supplementation, light therapy, therapeutic diets, and occasionally nutritional supplements.