Working Well

A natural therapist is a collective term used for practitioners who provide a range of 'natural' techniques and remedies in order to restore or build health and wellbeing.  The large variety of disciplines within natural therapy include: 

- Reiki                                                              - Chiropractic

- Acupuncture                                                - Kinesiology

- Chinese Medicine                                         - Osteopathic

                    - Homeopathy                                                 - Naturopathy

                    - Massage Therapy, including Bowen, Swedish, Shiatsu, Chinese and others

People typically use natural therapies to heal themselves as an alternative or as a complement to conventional methods of depression management such as medication prescribed by GPs and psychiatrists and psychological or counselling therapy.  When considering using natural therapy as an alternative or complimentary treatment, it is recommended that you discuss this with your GP.

Many of the techniques used by natural therapists are considered to be non-evidence based by conventional science and the general medical community, hence, they should be used with caution and with an understanding that not all natural therapies may work for you.  Nevertheless, natural therapy is growing in popularity as indicated by the growing number of Australian health funds now offering health insurance for natural therapies.

When seeing a natural therapist for the first time, ask to see their certificate(s) of qualifications and find out about their education, additional training, licenses and certifications in order to get an insight into their approach to treatment and patients.

Furthermore, look for a practitioner who is a member of a professional association, as these can offer national standards of education and practice, accreditation and encourage the highest ideals of professional, ethical standards and disciplinary functions.  For a list of associations in Australia which represent the majority of alternative medicines, please click here.

Many practitioners, including GPs and pharmacists, incorporate complementary medicines with conventional medicines into their practice and for more information about this, please visit the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA) website.

Resources:

Austherapy
Natural Therapy Pages
Australasian Integrative Medicine Association
The Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Australian Traditional Medicine Society