There are a number of medical and health associations offering consultations and treatments according to anthroposophical indications given by Rudolf Steiner.

New Zealand Association of Anthroposophic Doctors (NZAAD)

Contact  Dr Roger Leitch

Members of this Association meet at least 3 times a year to share information and learn about new topics. 

 Treating Patients, Not Symptoms

Anthroposophic medicine does not regard illness as a chance occurrence or mechanical breakdown, but rather as something intimately connected to the biography of the human being. Handled appropriately it presents opportunities for new balance and maturity. The patient is seen and treated holistically, as a being of body, soul, and spirit. This approach integrates conventional practice with new and alternative remedies, dietary and nutritional therapy, rhythmical massage, hydrotherapy, art therapy, and counseling. 

Anthroposophic Nurses Association in New Zealand

Contact: Deborah Bednarek

The Anthroposophic Nurses Association in NZ (ANANZ) has the following aims

a)To establish a group of nurses interested in anthroposophic nursing and to establish professional standards for this practice.

b) To support education and training in anthroposophic nursing for nurses and interested caregivers.

c) To facilitate research into matters pertaining to anthroposophic nursing.

d)To foster relationships with anthroposophic medical and therapeutic work.

e) To develop connections with existing nursing trends in New Zealand and worldwide.

f)To liaise with the Medical Section Dornach, Switzerland and other anthroposophic nursing initiatives worldwide.

g) To deepen the task of nursing through encouraging the ongoing path of inner development.

See article Anthroposophical Nursing. 

Association of Art Therapists in NZ 

Contact: Jean Mc Gavock 

See article What is Artistic Therapy?

Association of Curative Eurythmists in NZ

Contact: Heidrun Leonard, 1/28 Cadman Avenue, Cadman Court, Greenlane, Auckland. Ph: 09 579 8861

Curative Eurythmy

Eurythmy is a new art that has been developed since the beginning of our century. Its instrument is the human body. Its form of expression is movement. The human body originally developed out of movement and it is movement, that keeps the human body healthy and alive. The inner movements of our organs, the outer movements of our limbs. The world around us too is in constant movement. The earth in its rotation, the sun and moon, the more distant planets. There is no standing still. There is a constant change in evolution. The laws of movement and their significance in the cosmos, are studied in the new art of eurythmy. This has developed into a stage art. From there it has been introduced into Waldorf-schools as an art-subject beside other arts for the education of children. Adults, as laymen, can develop skills and practice for their own enjoyment. Especially if they are not altogether healthy the effect of regular practice is beneficial.

What do these movements look like and how can we learn them? If you could see the forms and shapes that are produced in the air while a person is uttering words they would appear manifold of course, but flowing. We can express them with arm-body-movements. In doing so we enter a realm which brings us into connection with the true nature of the word. Where then does the word fundamentally come from? Obviously its origin is of a spiritual nature. It brings understanding, Music too can be expressed through the instrument of our body. We can shape the intervals of a melody, the different tones and their harmonies, the rhythm and beat. Through this metamorphosis of music and of poetry we reach up to the spirit of what is heard and-in fact-make it visible. In return this can strengthen our physical well-being. It is understood widely that all genuine art in general has this effect to some extent, Artistic work may be looked on as a form of hygienic care concerning our life of soul.

Curative eurythmy (eurythmy therapy) enters the realm of medicine and is applied in a specific way. Illnesses that have to be dealt with professionally by a medical doctor can be subject to a treatment consisting of a number of exercises which originally derive from eurythmy as an art. Their effectiveness lies in a daily rhythm, in repetition of the same. By such means recovery is to a large extent put into the patient's own initiative.

Curative eurythmy has now reached its fifth generation of practice. The results of the ongoing effects have been so encouraging and rewarding that conventional medicine has taken notice of it. In our small country this method of curative movement is being more and more widely used. In 1994 an association of professionally trained curative eurythmists was formed. This body is affiliated with the Association of Curative Eurythmists in Germany. What was inaugurated some 80 years ago under the guidance of Rudolf Steiner, has found its way into the world and is now established as a part of anthroposophical medicine.

Eurythmy schools exist in some English speaking countries. After the 4 years' training as an artist a further specialisation in the medical realm can be added which leads to an authorised diploma in curative eurythmy. Its field of application is manifold: in clinics, hospitals and sanatoria, in schools and in private practice. Sessions sometimes are given in groups if the same treatment is needed. Especially in schools, help can be given to children with various developmental needs. Curative eurythmists work in association with a doctor, since an exact diagnosis is necessary for correct treatment.

Heidrun Leonard