It’s increasingly clear that our current healthcare system is struggling to address the complexities of chronic disease. Patients are looking for a different approach—one that prioritizes prevention and lifestyle changes over a lifetime of symptom management with medicine. This shift reflects the growing desire for health solutions that empower people to truly improve their well-being.

Naturopathic medicine has so much to offer conventional health care. Practiced for centuries and officially recognized in the United States for more than 100 years, naturopathic practice is guided by the therapeutic order, a treatment approach that starts with natural, gentle methods.1

This is the perfect time to bring patients personalized, whole-health strategies that align with their values, needs, and interests. By working with the body rather than against it, naturopathic philosophy and practices put people first, offering care that nurtures their natural ability not only to heal but thrive.

The Therapeutic Order: A Hierarchy for Good Health

The therapeutic order is central to whole-person, or holistic, medicine, guiding care that treats each person as an integrated whole. By addressing physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual needs, the therapeutic order honors individuality, supporting personal health journeys.

What sets the therapeutic order apart is a focus on finding the source of health issues and concerns. There’s a greater goal to resolve underlying problems while addressing symptoms and improving a patient’s quality of life.2

Built to optimize health and wellness, the therapeutic order activates the body’s natural healing process while fortifying weakened systems.3 Each stage informs patient care, ensuring that evaluation and treatment are tailored to a person’s unique needs and preferences.

Understanding the Seven Steps of the Therapeutic Order

Establishing the Foundations for Optimal Health

This step is the cornerstone of the therapeutic order. Before diving into any treatment plan, it’s important to first identify and remove any barriers to healing, while also making sure each person has the support they need to feel and function at their best.

Diet, sleep, exercise, and stress management are all part of step one in the therapeutic order.4 Addressing external factors, like toxin exposure, is also crucial for creating a healing environment that supports recovery.

Footnotes

  1. Guide to Using the Naturopathic Medicine Therapeutic Order in Publications and Education. Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine Institute. Published 2019. Accessed August 25, 2025. https://fnminstitute.org/therapeutic-order-use
  2. Zeff J, Snider P, Myers S. Naturopathic model of healing—the process of healing revisited. Integr Med. (Encinitas). 2019 Aug;18(4):26-30. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7219459
  3. Zeff JL. The process of healing: a unifying theory of naturopathic medicine. J Nat Med. 1997;7(1):122-5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291867092_The_process_of_healing_a_unifying_theory_of_naturopathic_medicine
  4. Oster H, Chaves I. Effects of healthy lifestyles on chronic diseases: diet, sleep, and exercise. Nutrients. 2023 Oct 31;15(21):4627. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15214627

Read the full article about the therapeutic order by Michelle Simon at Institute for Natural Medicine.