I am one lucky person to love what I do for a living. I find my work to be fulfilling and inspiring as I work with people on their health journey. The changes people can make, how good they can feel and happy to be living their lives – those are some fantastic moments to witness. It can take some commitment and elbow grease or sometimes the changes just make so much sense they can be almost effortless. And even though I’ve helped many people with their health concerns, the treatment plan is always different and the experience incredible.
I’m a communicator by nature. I love listening to people and understanding their story. As there is a reason behind everything, there is often a story behind the symptoms and diseases people experience. True, there are times where we have no “why” or “how” to the situation, and in those cases, we just focus on where the person is and what we can do to help improve their state. And in the cases where things have been uncovered, there may be a deeper understanding to the healing process and sometimes a quicker response to heal.
Honesty, boundaries and trust are of the utmost importance in the therapeutic relationship between a naturopathic doctor and patient. Because we are able to spend more time with each person, we can see the background factors to disease with more clarity. And this clarity can be valuable in creating a tailored treatment plan for the individual. For the creative part of my personality, this is one of the parts of my job I love. As no two people are the same, no two treatment plans I’ve created have been the same.
I am also grateful to have found this profession as I certainly didn’t grow up knowing naturopathic medicine existed. True, I have always been attracted to plants and physical exercise, but I had to be told about naturopathy from a friend who saw me doing this profession before I had even heard about it. I am thankful we had that conversation as I’ve learned so much not only from my schooling, but from my mentors as well as my patients. This is a profession where I am continuously learning and am humbled with how much there is to learn. Working as a naturopath keeps me open to possibilities and new ideas and I am truly fortunate to love what I do for a living.