DEPRESSION
A Natural Way to Approach Depression & Anxiety
How would you assess a patient with Depression & Anxiety?
Assessing Depression & Anxiety can be done predominantly through:
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- Establishing a timeline in the patient’s life;
- Questions focusing on stressors, how you cope with stress, significant events in their life;
- An overall view of how their body is working helps to create a picture of their health status;
- Another good tool to use is the mood appraisal questionnaire, as it helps the practitioner to consider specific nutritional deficiencies as the underlying cause as well as helps the patient with clarity in their condition.
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How can Naturopathy help a patient suffering with Depression & Anxiety?
Naturopathy can help bring the patient’s nervous system and overall mood back to optimal status by enhancing the natural pathways instead of altering them in the body like conventional medicine tends to do (with antidepressants/antianxiety/mood stabilizers). Improving and modulating the way the body responds to stress and correcting hormonal/nutritional imbalances for the patient is a key feature in Naturopathy treatment. Correcting these imbalances can decrease and eliminate the need for medications.
What do you do for a patient suffering from Depression & Anxiety? What are the steps you would take?
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- Regulate and Improve Mood.
- Regulate the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) as is altered in depression and stressful life events.
- Improve nutritional status.
- Modulate body’s response to stressors in life and improve their coping strategies.
- Improve quality of life and vital health.
- Referral to a councillor.
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How often would someone have to visit you to see improvements from their condition?
For the first 3 weeks, once a week and then once every 3 weeks, thereafter. Most patients depending on their condition would see improvement within the first 2 weeks.
Meet our Qualified Professionals
Mark Westhead – Cannon Hill
As a degree qualified Naturopath, Mark is passionate about restoring optimal health through the use of evidence based nutrition and lifestyle changes and where necessary, through the use of quality, practitioner only nutritional supplements and herbal medicines.
Mark believes in finding and treating the root cause of chronic illness and treating the whole person, not just masking the symptoms, in order to restore vitality and a return to good health.
After gaining an understanding of how you experience your condition, Mark can provide a treatment plan that is specifically tailored for you.
Mark is the creator of the Overcoming Anxiety Workshop. A 5 week online course designed to help people to take control of their lives through education (causes, triggers, physiological effects on the body), coping skills, diet and nutrition.
Carmel Elmore – Chermside
Carmel is a fully qualified Naturopath, Nutritionist and Yoga Instructor with more than 10 years experience of treating patients.
Carmel combines the use of traditional natural medicine in the form of herbs, tissue salts and nutrients with the most current supplements, compounding nutrients, functional pathology testing and evidence-based medicine available.
Craig Baron – Chermside
Craig is dedicated to delivering a personalised, holistic, results-driven approach that also aims to empower and educate his patients. He integrates the principles of Naturopathic, Herbal, Nutritional and Mind-Body Medicine to promote wellness, balance and support in a range of health specialties
Jen Strachan – Cannon Hill
Jen considers herself to be an Integrative Naturopath, understanding the need in some cases for co-management and combining a scientific, evidence based understanding of health with a natural approach.
She spent 3 years in a very busy practice, specialising in thyroid conditions, seeing thousands of patients and gained a solid grounding in treating hormone related conditions. Jen is familiar with a range of subsequent health concerns and has a special interest in reproductive health and digestive complaints.
Emma Pumfrey – Chermside
Emma is passionate about client education and long-lasting results – setting you up with any tools or education you may need to create the structure for a balanced and healthy lifestyle!
Within clinic, Emma utilises herbal and nutritional supplementation, flower essences for emotional health and wellbeing, as well as a combination of dietary and lifestyle recommendations. She may use diagnostic tools to help get a better overview of your current health status which may include iridology, tongue analysis or referrals for pathology testing.
Sheridan Genrich – Chermside
Sheridan is a both a Clinical Nutritionist & Naturopath who is passionate in treating mood & digestive disorders. She has completed extensive post graduate education in Nutrigenomics (how nutrients impact our DNA) and Functional Medicine.
For more than a decade, Sheridan has been helping busy people live life with energy and excitement by correcting the Nutrient, Hormone & Genetic imbalances that many people don’t realise are underlying their symptoms.
| Naturopath | |
|---|---|
| Initial 60 minute consultation incl Comprehensive Health Review | $150.00 |
| Subsequent 60 minute appointment incl Health Review results | $120.00 |
| Subsequent 45 minute appointment | $110.00 |
| Subsequent 30 minute appointment | $85.00 |
