Spokane Naturopathic Healthcare

Accepting Multiple Insurance Plans

About

Laura Flanagan, ND, MPH

I practice naturopathic primary care with special interests in women’s health and hormonal balance, gastrointestinal and digestive health, complex chronic illnesses, nutrition, and environmental medicine. In each visit we’ll discuss not only your presenting symptoms, but address how diet, lifestyle, stressors, and joys contribute to your total wellness. While diet, lifestyle, and herbal medicines are the interventions I consider first, sometimes pharmaceutical medicines or procedures are the most appropriate treatment and are my recommendation. Naturopathic medicine blends the best of both conventional and natural medical models to provide high quality primary care.

My goal is to provide you thoughtful, compassionate care, to refer to specialists as needed, and to communicate with other healthcare providers so that the care you receive is integrated and synergistic.

I received my Bachelor of Science from Tufts University, my Master of Public Health from the University of Massachusetts, and my Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University. I am a member of both the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. I served 5 years on the Board of Directors of the WANP.

Naturopathic Medicine is Guided by Six Principles

The Healing Power of Nature - Vis Medicatrix Naturae

The healing power of nature is the inherent self-organizing and healing process of living systems which establishes, maintains, and restores health. Naturopathic medicine recognizes this healing process to be ordered and intelligent. It is the naturopathic physician’s role to support, facilitate, and augment this process by identifying and removing obstacles to health and recovery, and by supporting the creation of a healthy internal and external environment.

Identify and Treat the Causes - Tolle Causam

Illness does not occur without cause. Causes may originate in many areas. Underlying causes of illness and disease must be identified and removed before complete recovery can occur. Symptoms can be expressions of the body’s attempt to defend itself, to adapt and recover, to heal itself, or may be results of the causes of disease. The naturopathic physician seeks to treat the causes of disease, rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.

First Do No Harm - Primum Non Nocere

Naturopathic physicians follow three precepts to avoid harming the patient:

Naturopathic physicians utilize methods and medicinal substances which minimize the risk of harmful effects and apply the least possible force or intervention necessary to diagnose illness and restore health.
Whenever possible the suppression of symptoms is avoided as suppression generally interferes with the healing process.
Naturopathic physicians respect and work with the vis medicatrix naturae in diagnosis, treatment and counseling, for if this self-healing process is not respected the patient may be harmed.

Doctor As Teacher - Docere

The original meaning of the word “doctor” is teacher. A principal objective of naturopathic medicine is to educate the patient and emphasize self-responsibility for health. Naturopathic physicians also recognize and employ the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship.

Treat the Whole Person - Tolle Totum

Health and disease result from a complex of physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social and other factors. Naturopathic medicine recognizes the harmonious functioning of all aspects of the individual as being essential to health. The multifactorial nature of health and disease requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment. Naturopathic physicians treat the whole person taking all these factors into account.

Prevention - Preventare

Disease Prevention and Health Promotion involves promoting a healthy lifestyle, assessing risk factors, determining susceptibility to disease, and making appropriate therapeutic interventions. It involves assessing environmental and external factors that might be affecting health, determining the impact of social relationships and community on health, and assessing the impact of medical interventions to-date. Naturopathic medicine asserts that one cannot be healthy in an unhealthy environment and is committed to the creation of a world in which humanity may thrive.