Training to be a Naturopath - a Personal Story
It's been almost 10 years now that Alex has graduated from the AMCC (Alternative Medicine College of Canada) in Naturopathy. Alex has a practice in France, where he treats mainly athletes. Let's have a look into his story.
A Good Start
In practice in Angers (France) since May 2010, Alexis Chatenay has developed a singular approach to the profession of health practitioner, focusing more specifically on the needs of athletes. It must be said that he knows perfectly well the world of sport as he used to practice at good level.
Indeed, Alex is an athlete at heart. Since the age of 14, he has been an athlete and initiator of tennis. This passion led him to favor sport and to pass his “Brevet d’état” of athletics (mandatory French diploma for sports educators) at the age of 18 years. Also, he had the privilege of training two athletes at the veteran world championships!
On the personal hygiene side, with an organic vineyard father, he was early sensitized to a more demanding approach to the quality of the food. Himself made the choice of vegetarianism.
A Move Towards Healthcare
A few years later, he decided to move closer to personal care, having the opportunity to integrate the hospital environment. While working at night in a hospital, between palliative care unit and retirement home, he planned to become a nurse. But he wanted to reconcile his passion for sport with his desire to accompany others. During his search, he discovered the naturopathic approach in which he fully recognized himself and understood the interest of the approach for athletes, often in search of advice: how to recover well, which foods to favor before a competition, how to manage the risk of wounds, etc.
Becoming a naturopath and putting his skills to the services of sportsmen and women was an obvious choice. For his naturopathy training, he remains dubious in front of the French offer, heterogeneous in content and forms, and prefers to opt for a remote school that will allow him to pursue his project alone, according to his own desires, without influence of any kind. He joined the AMCC.
Once he graduated as a Natural Health Practitioner – he pursued a specialization in naturopathy, and finally decided to confront the reality of the practice. You can look at his practice's website here. It's aptly called "santé (=health) performance"
In 2018, he paired up with a friend of his to create energy bars called "Cook and Run". An article about it was published in a french newspaper. Go have a look!
For our readers out there who wonder what they could do with their naturopathy degree, no need to worry! If you follow your heart (and learn a bit of business) you'll get there!
