ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.

What to expect

A 60-Minute First Session

Getting to know my patients thoroughly and establishing a great channel of communication takes time, and I invest in that relationship straight away. I take a full hour (60 minutes), on the initial new patient visit, to get to know you, to listen to you, and to fully explore the question of why you are here. Rarely is it that your case is just about your symptoms—I work to help identify the level at which your symptoms are primarily originating, whether it be physical, emotional, psychological, or even spiritual. I take the time to learn about you, help recognize your unique patterns of health and disease, and to create a personalized road map towards your most vital self and life.

Finding the Underlying Pattern

If your feet are cold, common wisdom tells us that not only warm socks but a warm hat will help. The same rings true for your interconnected self: if you come in with chronic migraine, for example, I want to know about your head, as well as your feet, and everything in-between. Everything is connected, as the body is a complex, synergistic organ system. How’s your sleep? Diet? Digestion? Stress? Energy level? My attentive, detail-oriented approach combs every body system for clues that lead to a more thriving you.

Intuitive, Supportive, Scientific

I believe that medicine is an art grounded in the sciences, and a good doctor is a scientist with an artist’s intuition. I develop treatment plans that are actionable and straightforward, but refuse to approach wellness or illness simplistically: I work with you to find the right treatment that addresses your interlocking strengths and imbalances, and supports the overall restoration of normal structure and function in your body, mind, and spirit. My evaluations are data-driven and comprehensive, and every treatment plan is informed by a deep understanding of the interconnected natural forces within the body.

I resist the temptation to overprescribe supplements but I enjoy overdelivering on your health. I am focused on producing the most value for you for the least amount of your investment. I believe that you have the right to a better, healthier, more meaningful life, and I am a passionate and dedicated collaborator with you toward that aim.

The Right Modalities for You

Because I meet you where you’re at, I am flexible in the modalities that I choose for you. The saying, “All roads lead to Rome,” can be applied to medicine: there are many ways to achieve health and many modalities that will help us get there, but there is an underlying philosophy that unites all of these ways. If all I have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. We, as naturopathic doctors, have a wide array of tools in our toolbox. However, I most often do begin by addressing diet, as it is some of the most low hanging fruit. We are indeed what we eat and what we eat ate. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, has been credited with saying that all disease originates in the gut.

There is no one-stop-shop, one-size-fits all approach to the individual. I adhere to the tenets of what has been called The Doctrine of Individuality. The treatment plan and modalities which may work for one person will often not work for another, even if it is documented in the scientific literature. Each individual has their own protocol, just right for them.

A Naturopathic, Root-Cause Approach

Naturopathic doesn’t mean using natural medicines like a conventional medical doctor—for example, using an anti-inflammatory herb such as turmeric to merely address underlying inflammation, much the same way that an MD uses NSAIDs to treat inflammation in the body. There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but frankly, this type of approach is simply more of the same, and may work for a time, but will not address the root cause. For example, I ask, “What is causing the inflammation?”

Naturopathic means finding creative, effective ways to address symptoms by supporting the innate healing capacities of the body, giving it what it needs, helping the organs of elimination to function at their most optimal, and removing obstacles to cure, such as substances which are not readily broken down by the body. I believe that the overprescription of natural medicines can be unnecessary, expensive, and even possibly produce harmful results: A treatment that puts you on twenty different supplements without exploring the root cause of an illness is little more than a really expensive game of whack-a-mole.

Instead of flooding your system with everything it might need and seeing how it shakes out, what I call a “shotgun approach,” I find the one or two treatments that align with your specific constellation of health. This is more of a “lowest common denominator” approach, meaning that I work to find the one or two problems at the root of your condition, disease, illness, or symptoms, and to support and enhance the body’s amazing ability to heal itself by identifying one or two interventions which may feed several birds with one seed. The inherent healing capacity within the body is known as the vis medicatrix naturae, or the healing power of nature. As a colleague to this force, I am a collaborator with you along your journey of health.

Give us a call if you would like to get started on your path to wellness today!

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