Naturopathy is a system where Medical Science + Natural Medicine meet with a focus on treating the underlying causes of disease by assessing and treating the patient with a strong focus on nutrition, biochemistry, immune and hormonal systems, digestive and mental function for optimal mental and physical health.
Naturopathy is a holistic approach to wellness using medical science, integrative and functional pathology and natural medicine to support and repair body, brain and mind.
Naturopathy encompasses a variety of treatment methods including:
Your first step is a free assessment consultation to discuss your health concerns and how we can help you. During this consultation we may determine through your symptoms and history what is necessary to test and treat to improve your health. We will advise an outline of what may be involved in your treatment plan, and if you feel comfortable that you may benefit from our care, you may then decide to move ahead with pathology and testing methods to identify and confirm the causes of your health concerns.
Testing procedures are followed to determine the health status of each client which are inclusive of:
We look at clinical signs of nutritional deficiencies, and use a diet tailored to your needs based on your pathology results inclusive of your unique food intolerances, food and chemical sensitivities due to liver or genetic mutations, and digestive disorders for correcting your metabolism and aiding in weight loss or weight gain for some if required. We may use nutrient supplementation to repair the gut wall, providing increased absorption of vital nutrients from the diet. Without adequate absorption our energy is depleted, usually stimulating blood sugars to vary, causing sugar cravings and perpetuating further poor dietary habits.
Herbal medicine is used when organs of the body may not be running as well as they should, either from poor nutrition, infection, or from extenuating life experiences such as excessive stress, or recurrent and chronic illness. Herbs deliver powerful and high potency nutrients in levels more than your diet could supply to specific organs depending on the herbs we choose. They may have an immediate effect, and often continue to improve the health of the organs over a period of years, if necessary. Herbs are excellent for treating digestive disorders, restoring hormonal balance, raising the immune system, and unlike medical drugs, heal while they kill viral or bacterial infection. They are crucial for the treatment of adrenal exhaustion, fatigue and tiredness, lifting low moods associated with adrenal fatigue such as irritability, depression, insomnia, short temper, lack of motivation, and many more. Herbs also help restore sleep and work to bringing about balance or homeostasis to the nervous system.
Ordinarily, we cannot influence our brainwave patterns because we lack awareness of them. However, when you can see your brainwaves on a computer screen a few thousandths of a second after they occur, it gives you the ability to influence and change them. The mechanism of action is called operant conditioning. We are literally reconditioning and retraining the brain. At first, the changes are short-lived, but the changes gradually become more enduring. With continuing feedback, coaching, and practice, we can usually retrain healthier brainwave patterns in most people. It is a little like exercising or doing physical therapy with the brain, enhancing cognitive flexibility and control.
Thus, whether the problem stems from ADD/ADHD, Autism, a learning disability, a stroke, head injury, deficits following neurosurgery, uncontrolled epilepsy, cognitive dysfunction associated with aging, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or other brain related conditions, Neurotherapy training offers additional opportunities for rehabilitation through directly retraining of the brain, and the effects are expected to be permanent.
Areas where Neurotherapy has been researched and has been found to be beneficial include:
The exciting thing is that even when a problem is biological in nature, we now have another treatment alternative than just medication. Neurotherapy is also being used increasingly to facilitate peak performance in “normal” individuals and athletes.
Frank H. Duffy, M.D., a Professor and Pediatric Neurologist at Harvard Medical School, stated in an editorial in the January 2000 issue of the journal Clinical Electroencephalography that scholarly literature now suggests that Neurotherapy “should play a major therapeutic role in many difficult areas. In my opinion, if any medication had demonstrated such a wide spectrum of efficacy it would be universally accepted and widely used” (p. v). “It is a field to be taken seriously by all” (p. vii). Extract from an article by Professor Corydon Hammond. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. University of Utah School of Medicine.
What is it?
QEEG is an assessment tool used to aid in identifying mental health conditions by means of statistical evaluations of the EEG. The QEEG is useful combined with traditional clinical assessment, as it provides a sensitive and specific method to detect subtle variations in the activity of the brain. Subtle brain wave variations might otherwise go unnoticed by the clinician, even with a traditional, visually inspected EEG. But the computer-based QEEG may provide evidence of an underlying dysfunction that needs to be recognised, evaluated and treated.
QEEG measures the minute electrical activity of a person’s brain and then, using proprietary software, compares that unique pattern to known databases of “normal” and “abnormal” patterns. This type of computer-driven statistical analysis is particularly useful in evaluating difficult and borderline cases. Research has found that QEEG has a high level of reliability that is equal or superior to routinely used clinical tests such as mammograms, cervical screenings, blood tests, MRI and CAT scans. A comprehensive literature review (Hughes & John, 1999) in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences reported “Of all the imaging modalities, the greatest body of replicated evidence regarding pathophysiological concomitants of psychiatric and developmental disorders has been provided by EEG and QEEG studies.”
Prominent in headlines today are discussions of the mental health of children. It appears that we are in the midst of an epidemic of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The National Association of School Psychologists (N.A.S.P.), and the National institute of Mental Health (NIH) have warned practitioners of the wide variety of psycho-medical and bio-medical problems that can be mistaken for ADHD, or that may co-exist with ADHD, stressing that it is always essential for a child to be carefully evaluated.
According to N.A.S.P., ADHD “Look-alikes” include depression, stress-induced anxiety states, biologically-based anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and other medical disorders. While children with look-alike disorders may fulfill the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, they may have an entirely different underlying physiological condition and, therefore, might more appropriately receive a different diagnosis, resulting in different treatment. Moreover, if a medical or other psychiatric disorder is presenting as ADHD, a treatment that merely improves the ADHD symptoms may leave a residue of untreated behavioural problems, mood abnormalities or disorders of physiology. In such cases, even if medical stimulants, which are commonly prescribed for ADHD, are helpful, or if environmental changes improve the child’s self-control, it is critical to insure that other, perhaps more serious problems are not left unchecked.
The T.O.V.A. is a Test of Variables of Attention, which is a computer program designed like a game for the accurate and reliable assessment and monitorisation of attention disorders. It resembles a computer game in which the patient responds to either a visual stimulus or an auditory stimulus, measuring:
– Response Time Variability
– Response Time\
– Impulsivity/disinhibition
– Inattention
– Anticipatory Responses
By measuring these reactions to the program, the T.O.V.A. assists us to:
– Diagnose attention disorders with proven accuracy of 87% of normal and 90% of ADHD patients.
– Assess optimal levels of treatment protocols including the effectiveness of nutrients, medications and neurotherapy.
– Monitor attention treatment over time as the patient changes and improves.
– Assess neurological disorders and injuries, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) not just ADHD.
Combining the experience of our practitioners with the broad testing facilities available at Advanced Wellness & Behavioural Centre such as QEEG, T.O.V.A, and functional pathology, we are able to accurately determine almost immediately what is occurring in the brain to provide the best treatment available for mental health issues. This testing regime leaves nothing to the imagination reducing treatment time and financial investment for efficiency in resolving your health concerns.
Stress is a common feature in western culture, so much so, that we accept it as part of our everyday life. We feel so tired, even exhausted a lot of the time, where sitting for just a moment may leave you not wanting to get up again. This is a physical symptom that is associated with mental stress. This occurs due to of a deficiency levels of dopamine, norephinephrine, adrenalin, cortisol or DHEA hormone.
Hormones are produced during stressful situations, to activate your fight and flight response. However, under constant stress, we continually produce these hormones leaving them depleted, rendering us caught in the fight and flight response, rushing from place to place, always feeling under pressure. This places heavy demands on the nutrients needed to produce these hormones and the associated brain neurotransmitters. If we do not then replace these nutrients in high enough doses from our diet to replace what is depleted, we develop variances of adrenal fatigue and exhaustion.
Irritability, snapping at close friends and relatives, short temperedness, intolerant of others, impatience, insomnia, loss of motivation and mild to moderate depression are all signs there may be a problem with stress in your life. If this is the case, you may need to address your hormone and neurotransmitter levels by providing the nutrients to continue to cope, and to increase your lost energy, until the situation in your life is resolved. It doesn’t need to take very long to improve the situation, but it is a very important one to address as it leads to more serious problems, such as clinical depression, chronic fatigue, and chronic diseases.
Anti-Ageing medicine is the natural evolution from sickness medicine. Diseases are being treated, yet people are often not. Anti-ageing medicine is the new medical science which has grown largely from the public demanding new innovative ways to stay well, and prevent the diseases commonly associated with ageing and ultimately death.
Scientific studies now dominate the medical literature proving that anti-aging principles are here and ready to be implemented, available in Australia at Advanced Wellness & Behavioural Centre.
Anti-aging medicine focuses on preventing conditions in the body which speed the aging process such as dysregulation of dietary hormones, growth and sex hormones, inflammation, dietary imbalances, exercise physiology, disease management for diseases such as heart disease, cancer, dementia, and osteoporosis, and finally natural hormone replacement therapy.
This information is absolutely cutting edge, and well before its time. It is designed to bring the body to complete balance, slowing the ageing process, and increasing longevity with immaculate health.
Poor libido and sexual dysfunction can cause problems not only for the affected person, but for their partner also in a long term relationship, making this problem such an important one to treat. Male andropause begins around the age of 25 where very slowly male hormones decline, where women’s menopause occurs almost all at once over a 5 year period between the age of around 45 to 55 years.
The sex hormones need to be produced at adequate levels for healthy sexual function, though there are a few obstacles that can get in the way, such as stress which can divert the ingredients for your sex hormones away to be produced into stress hormones instead. The same goes for a healthy menopause and reduced PMS with a healthy cycle. Excessive stress usually equates to deficiency in reproductive hormones, resulting in hormonal imbalance, and many unwanted symptoms such as hot flushes, irritability, premenstrual pain, depression, migraines and more.
Weight gain and obesity will also cause a problem with sexual dysfunction, causing circulatory problems. Good sexual function requires good circulation, and so heart disease and sexual dysfunction are often associated with one another. For this reason, blood pressure medication can sometimes adversely affect male sexual function. The correct treatment would be to lose weight, reduce the blood pressure through correct metabolism, increase circulation naturally, and the sexual dysfunction will often correct itself. There are some very special herbs available to help raise hormone levels such as DHEA, testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen, which may be used in the interim until the problem is resolved.
Did you know that recent research has shown every aspect of our reproduction is adversely affected by our modern lifestyle and living conditions? One in six couples have trouble conceiving, in one third of those cases of infertility, it is the male who is responsible, in another third, the female is responsible, and the last third both the male and female are responsible. Currently estimates suggest about six percent of men between the ages of fifteen and fifty are infertile.
Preconception care for both partners is the key to ensuring optimal reproductive health. Studies have shown that if both prospective parents improve their general health and nutritional levels, check for genetic mutations that may affect fertility so they may be supported, and avoid many common lifestyle factors and environmental hazards in the months preceding conception, they can greatly improve their reproductive outcomes. The most improvement will be seen in the physical, mental and emotional health of their child.
There are certain things that can be done to enhance fertility for females, such as regulate ovulation, balance hormone levels, reduce endometriosis and improve uterine health, improve the health of the ova and ovaries, clear blocked fallopian tubes and improve tubal function, discover and treat hidden infections in the reproductive tract, treat pelvic inflammatory disease, soften scar tissue and adhesions, lessen cervical damage from erosion/infection/surgery, and enhance quality and quantity of fertile mucus. Not forgetting the males, we can look at improving sperm count, motility, quality and health of sperm.
Following enhancement of fertility, we can then look at conceiving at the right time, producing a normal, healthy and full-term pregnancy, a short and straight forward labour, and finally a bright and beautiful healthy baby with successful breastfeeding.
Take this simple quiz to identify if you may be at risk of suffering with Pyroluria. The right diagnosis is key to finding happiness and balance
Learn more
Hot flushes, insomnia, digestive disturbance, weight gain, poor memory, increased pain, low libido and mood swings are just the tip of the iceberg when treating menopause. The reality is that it is inevitable, but the reality is it is all completely related to hormones, and hormones are entirely dependent on neurotransmitters.
Learn more
Book your free assessment consultation