Dr. Martha Allen • The Leathers Building • 675 Pulaski Street, Suite 1300 Athens, GA 30601 • (706) 850-2512 • aim@drmarthaallen.com
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Modalities used by naturopathic physicians include clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, dietary and lifestyle counseling, and mind-body medicine. Naturopaths are currently licensed in 15 states. While Georgia does not currently license naturopaths, Dr. Allen has obtained licensure in Oregon where she attended medical school. Licensure as a naturopathic doctor requires 8 years of college and graduate level education, including 4 years at an accredited naturopathic medical school and successful completion of rigorous board examinations.
Naturopathic medicine is truly holistic and does not replace conventional medical care by an M.D. Integrating various healing paradigms provides optimal patient care, as no one system of medicine has all the answers. Naturopaths make referrals to specialists when necessary. In Georgia virtually anyone can call themselves a naturopath, so it is important for consumers to inquire about educational training when selecting a practitioner.
Naturopathic Therapies
You are what you eat. Dietary counseling, food sensitivity testing, and nutritional counseling can all help to promote optimal health. Naturopaths strive to educate patients on how to make healthy eating both delicious and simple.
Botanical Medicine
Dr. Allen has a passion for botanical medicine, combining the theories of Chinese and Western herbal medicine. Bulk herbal teas and liquid extracts of herbs are custom formulated by Dr. Allen to create unique blends to address your specific health care needs. She strives to create medicinal tea blends that also taste delicious. Herbs are organically grown and undergo rigorous quality control testing. Gas chromatography is used to ensure plant species identification and to determine the strength of individual medicinal compounds. Botanicals are gentle and extremely effective medicines.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a 200 year old system of medicine developed by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician. Homeopathy uses highly diluted substances to stimulate the body's healing response. Because they are prescribed in such minute dosages, homeopathic medicines are completely non-toxic. This makes them a great modality for kids or any time a gentle therapy is needed.
Lifestyle Counseling and Stress Management
The mental and emotional aspects of the individual play a huge role in overall wellness.
Naturopathic Principles
Naturopaths use therapies that are as gentle as possible while still being effective. Most of our therapies have no "side effects" and instead have "side benefits."
Identify and Treat the Cause
Naturopaths strive to understand and treat the underlying factors that result in a patient’s symptoms. By treating the cause of disease, we can help cultivate whole body wellness rather than simply controlling symptoms.
The Healing Power of Nature
The body demonstrates a remarkable ability to heal itself when supported with natural therapies.
Doctor as Teacher
Consumers are bombarded with an overwhelming volume of health information, much of it conflicting and confusing. Naturopaths seek to educate patients on safe, time proven principles that will help them achieve optimal health. Naturopaths help to educate and motivate their patients to make the necessary lifestyle changes that will engender optimal health. We view our relationships with patients as a partnership. This requires more dedication from the patient, but the results are so worth it!
Prevention
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The majority of our society's illnesses are preventable through lifestyle change. Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, are all examples of disease processes that may be avoided through preventive medical care.
