FAQ - Natural Path Healthcare - Naturopathic Psychiatry Sammamish WA

At this time Natural Path Healthcare is not accepting insurance. In order to best serve our patients, we have chosen to focus our time on patient care. Superbills may be available. If you are interested in our services and concerned about payment, please reach out to learn more about our sliding scale visits.

A Naturopathic Doctor (ND) is trained at an accredited four year naturopathic medical school. Prior to this training students must have completed bachelor’s degree, including comprehensive foundational science coursework.
During their training, ND’s receive the same foundational medical training as conventional medical programs, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, etc. They are taught both conventional and naturopathic treatment options, and experience extensive clinical training. Students are required to participate in a variety of clinical rotations, such as naturopathic medicine, physical medicine and counseling. In addition, they are required to complete preceptorship rotations with various physicians in the community, where they are able to further specialize in areas of interest.
ND’s graduate with a doctoral level degree. They must pass 2 rounds of national licensure exams known as NPLEX 1 and NPLEX 2. In order to maintain licensure they must regularly complete continuing education credits.

Yes, naturopathic doctors licensed in Washington state can prescribe medications and have full prescriptive rights, except certain controlled substances such as stimulant medications, benzodiazepines, narcotic medications, and chemotherapy drugs.

Both ND’s and MD’s are trained healthcare professionals that attend graduate level accredited medical training and pass their respective medical board exams as part of licensure.
The main difference between these two types of doctor is in approach and treatments. MD’s typically focus on conventional medical treatments such as pharmaceuticals and surgery. ND’s take a more whole person approach, considering conventional treatments as well as natural therapies such as nutrition, botanical medicine, lifestyle modifications, counseling, and ways to support the body’s natural healing processes. ND’s work to identify and treat the root cause of illness, and function to prevent the development of future illness when possible.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency please immediately seek help by contacting 911 and/or reaching out to an emergency medical professional. We do not have an emergency call line and recommend any patient feeling they may be experiencing a medical emergency seek medical treatment immediately.

The frequency of visits depends upon your unique needs. Often, for traditional naturopathic medicine appointments, we will meet more frequently in the beginning of your health journey, as we develop an effective treatment plan and get you feeling healthy, with reduction in the number of visits depending upon your need and desire. For mind body medicine appointments we generally meet weekly to bi-weekly for a period of a few months, as you train and become more adept in your skills.