But that is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, because the older Naturopaths also got to understand how the body’s energy was deployed and how it responded to both external constraint and to medical interventions. That led them to develop a medical system that was informed by “Naturopathic Insight” by which they could “see into” the body’s energy systems and understand what was going on within. We can do that today, yet we can interpret it, if we wish, within the context of the modern biochemistry of the cell. The Naturopath can perceive the body’s energy being “suppressed” by toxicity and other negative influences, and being activated by positive influences. The Naturopathic diagnosis permits insight into a patient’s medical history, enabling it to be interpreted in naturopathic terms, thus illuminating how and why the patient comes to be in the medical condition he or she is in today. That understanding then informs and guides the subsequent treatment.

Even better, as naturopathic treatment is applied, the practitioner can see just how that treatment interacts with the patient’s condition. We do not expect progress to be immediate or to be entirely forecastable. We know that each person has his or her own naturopathic make-up that determines his or her responses. It is insight into those responses that make Naturopathy into an Art as well as a Science-based treatment form. We use our skills and our hard-won insights to creatively guide the patient towards better health. We can recognize that not all treatment outcomes will be immediately and obviously favourable and that some may be uncomfortable, but that in the end they will lead towards less toxicity, less toxic damage, more healing and higher energies.