NATURAL MEDICINE

SO YOU DON’T LIKE NATURAL MEDICINE? SO WHAT? A MESSAGE TO ALTERNATIVE PRACTITIONERS.   
By CHANTAL COOKE.   

So some people don’t like the idea of non-orthodox treatments. Some people love the idea.

Some people think they are the work of the devil. Some people think they are like a gift from the angels and have saved their lives.

Some people would never touch an “alternative” treatment. Some people swear by them and refuse anything else.

Some people want to tell the world they are being conned by CAM. Some people want to tell the world that CAM is the only true way.

And some people sit in the middle.

So what?

There are always believers and non believers. There are always those who are swayed by others and those who make up their own minds.

There are always those that want a magic pill and there are always those that recognise their own role in their health.

There are always those that trust science no matter what, and there are always those that prefer to look behind the current scientific thinking.

So what?

There will always be people who we consider are right. And there will always be people who we consider to be wrong. In other words there will always be (at least) two sides to everything.

It’s just the way of the world. It will never change. So why let it bother us?

We get into a frenzy every time an ill informed medical practitioner spouts some rubbish about natural medicine. We burn up lots of energy fighting it. We spend time, we spend money, we get grey hair, we get stressed. Why bother?

Natural Medicine will never go away. Why? Because there are plenty of people who want it, use it, and swear by it. It doesn’t matter that they may not be able to buy the products on the high street – we have the Internet. It doesn’t matter that practitioners will be even more controlled in terms of what they can claim. People who feel that natural medicine is the right way will still seek it out. They will ask their friends. They will read articles and blogs. If they want it – they will find a way to get it.

We don’t need to fight the battle. There is no battle. Its just skirmishes that are wasting energy and resources. So let the orthodox guys waste their time and energy and money, while we simply get on with doing what we do best – making people feel better.

What exactly are we trying to win? What exactly are we hoping will happen? Whatever it is, I’ll bet we don’t have the time and resources to achieve it. We don’t live in a world that lends itself to “proving” the efficacy of natural medicine. As we all know we’re trying to compare apples and pears. Natural medicine can’t withstand the sort and type of scientific scrutiny that will shut-up the nay-sayers. So why bother? We all know this –so let’s stop the comparisons. Doing what we do is the most powerful way to fight this war and win it. Let’s not get side-tracked with smaller battles.

So the question to consider is; so what?

Do we really need to worry about impending legislation? Are there ways we can continue to practice despite these changes? Can we still treat people? Can we still make a difference?

Who are your clients? Are they doubters? Are they converts? Or are they those that are vehemently against natural medicine?

From my experience the clients are the people who are open to the idea (at the very least) and probably have some inner sense that natural means better for you. Instinctively they prefer the idea of natural medicine.

Will we lose those people? I don’t think so. Will our shouting convert the doubters? Unlikely. They will be converted by speaking to their friends – the people we are treating and making better.

Will our battles convert the anti-brigade? No. Never. So why bother?

Should we be fighting them using their rules and their theatre of war (the media)? Why not set our own rules and play this out in the arena where we know we are strongest – with our clients.

Some people don’t like natural medicine and want to whinge about it at every given opportunity and yet people still use it, magazines still write about it and recommend it, people still make a living offering it.

So my question is – why should we care? In other words why are we spending our time fighting when we could be spending our time healing?

About the Author
Chantal Cooke is an award winning journalist and broadcaster.