02 Feb 2022

Naturopathy vs homeopathy with Cliona Dillon

In the wellness world, terms like ‘homeopathy’, ‘alternative medicine’ and ‘naturopathy’ make a regular appearance in the information we read. Yet, it’s often tricky to understand the difference between these ‘similar but different’ terms. We sat down with naturopathic nutritionist Cliona Dillon to talk about her wellness journey and exactly what the difference is between naturopathy vs homeopathy.

Empowering through naturopathy

If you’ve ever dreamed of escaping the city for a life in touch with nature and wellbeing, Cliona Dillon may just be your new inspiration.

A naturopathic nutritionist with the College of Naturopathic Medicine, Cliona lives in county Galway, Ireland, with her fiancé Aidan and their adorable dog, Teddy.

And, when she’s not out walking Teddy through the rolling hills and along the dramatic clifftops of county Galway, she’s helping others discover their own path to wellbeing.

“As a naturopathic nutritionist, I empower and educate people to achieve their best physical, mental and emotional state,” she explains. “It’s a really rewarding career, when you see the difference people can make to their own lives when they take charge of their health and wellbeing.”

A transformative experience

Growing up beside bookshelves lined with works by nutritionist such as Dr Patrick Holford and the herbalist Alfred Vogel sparked an interest in nutrition and naturopathy for Cliona. However, as is so often the case, it was personal experience that really fanned the flames!

After suffering with skin rashes, deteriorating eyesight and eye pain, Cliona had tried the traditional route of treatment - steroid creams and eyeglasses - without much improvement. So, she decided to see if a naturopathic nutritionist could help.

“I learned so much about how the body functions as a whole, and how an imbalance in one system can affect multiple others,” she explains. “For example, my protocol focused a lot on my liver. As the primary organ of detoxification, any weakness there can cause an imbalance in other areas, such as the skin.

“However, my therapist also explained the idea of the liver meridian, in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has a strong correlation with the eyes, so focusing there might also lead to improvements with my eyesight. I found it all very interesting.”

And the results spoke for themselves. After six weeks on the plan, Cliona was noticing a big difference. “My skin rashes completely cleared up, my eye pain had resolved and I no longer needed my prescription glasses. I thought, I’ve got to know more about this! The experience inspired me to train as a naturopathic nutritionist, one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Cliona Dillon 3

Naturopathy vs homeopathy

So, what exactly is naturopathy, and is it the same as homeopathy? Not quite, as Cliona explains.

“Naturopathy is a system of healthcare which encourages and promotes the body’s own self-healing mechanisms,” she tells us. “It can incorporate various different therapies such as nutrition, fasting, hydrotherapy, naturopathic manipulations, herbal medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, and others.

“On the other hand, while homeopathy is also based on the principle that the body has the ability to heal itself, it follows a specific set of principles.

“Mainly, these revolve around the “law of similars” or curing “like with like”. This is the belief that a substance that causes a certain set of symptoms in a healthy person will have a curative effect when given to a sick person who is displaying similar symptoms.”

For example, we all know that chopping a raw onion makes our eyes sting and water. From this, the homeopathic remedy Allium cepa came into being. Derived from the common onion, the theory goes that because of its effects on the healthy, it could be used to treat people suffering from hay fever.

So, homeopathy can be a part of naturopathy, but naturopathy also encompasses other areas of holistic wellbeing.

Suppression, and finding the root cause

Many traditional medical systems, including Ayurveda, place more focus on treating the patient as a unique, individual person, rather than treating a recognisable set of symptoms.

For many followers of holistic medicine, the idea of balancing concern for mental and physical wellbeing is part of the appeal.

Cliona subscribes to the idea that our bodies are systems which operate harmoniously, until an imbalance arises. When that happens, it’s important to treat the whole person.

“One of the theories of homeopathy that I do follow as a naturopath is the theory of suppression,” Cliona tells us.

This theory states that if you try and suppress symptoms of malaise or imbalance, your body will find another way to express itself. “The continual suppression of symptoms can result in deeper-seated problems. These are more detrimental to body functions and longevity.

“In naturopathy, we always strive to get to the root cause of a person’s physical or emotional issue. I think this is an area that conventional medicine sometimes falls down on. Medication is prescribed to cure symptoms but is it really addressing the root cause?”

If not, Cliona believes, the body will find another way to let you know that there is an imbalance which you need to address. Luckily, our bodies have an impressive ability to self-heal, given the right circumstances.