Q: ​How long have you been a naturopathic doctor?
A: I graduated from naturopathic medical school in 2016, and completed a year long residency in primary care and community health in Portland, Oregon. Following the completion of my residency, I moved to Southern California and worked as an IV doctor for 6 months. I then opened a private practice in Costa Mesa, CA in 2018 with a colleague. My husband and I moved back to the midwest (I am originally from Wisconsin) in November of 2019 :)

Q: What made you choose to pursue naturopathic medicine?
A: The main influence on my career decision was my undergraduate independent study with the University of Wisconsin Industrial Engineering department. At the time I was a pre-med biology major, and was ready to go to “conventional” medical school. The Industrial Engineering department recruited people who were pre-med, and we were given the task of watching hours of primary care visits and coding doctor-patient-computer interactions. While the research was tedious at times, it ended up being a valuable experience because I essentially had the opportunity to virtually shadow numerous area physicians for hours every week. One patient that stood out to me was a woman in her 50’s who was using a walker. I was already surprised by how restricted her mobility was for someone of her age, but what was even more shocking to me was that the number of prescription medications she was on was in the double digits. These were all powerful medications with serious side effects. Many of these medications were prescribed to combat the side effects of her other medications. She, like many other people in this country, was on a chain of one medication being used to mask the symptoms of another. After seeing this visit I quickly became disillusioned with conventional medicine. I realized that although it is really good at preventing people from dying, it is not good at making people well.

Some months after my independent study, my mother showed me an article in one of her nursing magazines that gave basic information on naturopathic medicine and NDs. With my previous experiences prominent in my thoughts, the article sparked my interest. After several months of reflection and research, I decided that pursuing this kind of work would be extremely valuable. I believe in a more holistic approach to medicine: treating patients instead of treating just diseases, and treating the root cause of an illness instead of only giving people Band-Aids.

Q: What kind of patients do you like working with most?
A: I love helping people who struggle with mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression. While I was in medical school and during my residency, I completed rotations in naturopathic mental health in conjunction with Pacific University of Oregon’s Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinic. I love that naturopathic medicine gives people options beyond pharmaceutical intervention for achieving their health goals. Even if patients are already on mental health medications (which are often necessary), naturopathic medicine gives me the tools to help people’s symptoms improve. Whether it is making sure that someone has the proper nutrients to form their neurotransmitters and make the most of their medications, or giving people herbal supplements to augment or even replace their existing medications, I have seen naturopathic medicine help get people’s mental health conditions into remission.

Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: I love spending time with my husband, friends and cat. I like hiking, backpacking, doing yoga, swimming, playing board games, working out at the gym, listening to podcasts and cooking/baking.

Q: What do you look for in a health care practitioner?
A: I like someone who is thorough and straightforward. I really like it when practitioners explain what they are doing as they perform tests and procedures, the reasoning behind why they are doing those tests, and the results and their interpretation of those results. A great health care practitioner, in my opinion, values and demonstrates transparency, expertise, and empathy.

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: I always wanted to choose a profession in which I could help and inspire the most people. Choosing between being a doctor, nurse, social worker, or even politician was a difficult choice. Nothing seemed to fit me quite right, until I was introduced to naturopathic medicine in my pre-med club while completing my undergraduate degree. Once I learned about the tenants of naturopathic medicine including prevention, treating the whole person, identifying and treating the cause, the healing power of nature, doctor as teacher, and do no harm, I was convinced that this profession was the best fit for me. Engaging with my community, educating others, and health all came together perfectly within naturopathic medicine.
 
Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession? 
A: My passion to share this medicine with as many people as possible is what keeps me engaged in this profession. I strive to educate and empower others about their bodies and health.
 
Q: What kind of patients do you like working with most?
A: I enjoy working with a wide variety of patients. I enjoy working with patients that are familiar with naturopathic medicine, but also with patients where this type of medicine is new to them. It is a gift to be able to share this medicine with as many as people as possible, and I always look forward to listening and understanding every patient that comes into my office. Some of my favorite topics to discuss with patients is nutrition and environmental medicine in relation to prevention of disease.
 
Q: How do you spend your free time? 
A: I spend my free time with my family, friends, and cat! I enjoy traveling, gardening, cooking and eating everything under the sun, running, spending time on the lake, and chatting with friends about how to keep making the world a better place.
 
Q: How do you celebrate living in your body? 
A: I have always spent a lot of time moving my body. I played sports throughout childhood, played intercollegiate volleyball at MSU-Mankato during my undergraduate years, and am currently training for my second marathon! I love celebrating my body for all of the wonderful and powerful things it can do. Traveling is also a way I celebrate living in my body. It is one of my favorite activities to engage in. It’s always inspiring and a learning experience to see the world through a new set of eyes.
 
Q: What do you look for in a health care practitioner?
A: My ideal health care practitioner is compassionate and empathetic. I appreciate when my practitioner knows that every person starts on their health journey at a different place, and gives space for that journey to be cultivated. I also look for a practitioner that views each patient as a holistic individual with unique needs, and empowers them to get to the root cause of their health issues.

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: I have always felt a strong urge to help others and to be a part of the healthcare system. I occasionally visited a chiropractor throughout high school to support my athletic activities, but never dreamt of becoming one until it was suggested to me; once I started researching into the schooling and career, it clicked! I began graduate school, learning about the power of our bodies motivated me to start making healthy habit changes and I was astonished at the results! Growing up, I was what my parents called a ‘catcher’; I was always sick. By supporting my body with chiropractic adjustments, exercise, and healthy eating habits, my illness frequency dramatically decreased and now I rarely get sick (knock on wood!). Becoming a chiropractor has helped my family value and care for our bodies and I am grateful for the ability to influence others to do the same!
 
Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession?
A: The longer I am in practice, the more I become inspired and amazed at the potential of our bodies. I believe in addressing the source of the issue, not just the symptom, and my goal is to empower others to take control of their health. Chiropractic care supports your body to function at its best. Who wouldn’t be excited about that?!
 
Q: What kinds of clients do you like working with most?
A: My passion resides in supporting women prior to conception, throughout pregnancy and postpartum; and of course, meeting the little one after!  I have advanced training in Chiropractic for Pregnancy, Craniosacral Therapy for Infants and Pregnancy, and Evaluation and Rehabilitation of TOTS (tethered oral tissues) in Infants. I utilize Spinning Babies Techniques® and have a Certification in the Webster Technique to optimize pelvic positioning throughout pregnancy. I am currently a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) and plan to continue my pediatric education with future ICPA courses.

Q: Tell us about a time you really connected with a patient.
A: An infant first presented for care following a lip and tongue-tie release procedure, seeking chiropractic care, craniosacral therapy, and rehabilitation exercises. They were struggling with a weak latch while nursing and jaw tension. After the first treatment, their mom noticed an immediate positive change in nursing. After three treatments, their mom mentioned how happy and relaxed baby’s demeanor was; she then explained how previously, baby would have periods of irritability, needed to be held, and would not tolerate simply lying on the floor alone (this was something we had not discussed before!) Not only were we addressing the main issue of concern, but there were also other improvements occurring that positively affected the whole family. The encounter refreshed my excitement for the holistic effects of chiropractic.
 
Q: What is your favorite meal?
A: I LOVE SOUPS! Ramen, cauliflower, bone broth, chicken noodle, pho, root vegetable, mushroom, and vomacka (a Czech soup)… just to name a few! Living in Minnesota, I need the warmth to get me through the winters and the smell of a broth simmering all day is heavenly!
 
Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: Majority of my free time is spent with family and friends. My husband and I love to travel and explore whenever we get the chance- I am obsessed with beautiful scenery and new food. I try to be outdoors as much as possible- preferably at a lake!
 
Q: How do you celebrate living in your body?
A: Activities that bring me joy are yoga, walks with my pup Alton, swimming, and my newly purchased standing paddleboard! I take pride in cooking healthy meals for my family and am looking forward to summer to begin a garden for fresh ingredients!
 
Q: What do you look for in a health care practitioner?
A: I look for someone who will listen to my concerns and address them with empathy. If they do not have the answer, I appreciate honesty and guidance to point me in the right direction!

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: It may sound cliche, but I believe that therapy chose me. I had several ideas of different career paths growing up, but somehow I ended up as a therapist. Everyone is struggling in some way or another. What we need most, when we are going through difficulties, is someone who will truly listen and provide us with unconditional support and care. I know how powerful it can be to have someone there to provide encouragement and support in the toughest and darkest of times. I want to be able to walk alongside people in their journey of self-discovery, exploration and healing. I feel honored every time someone chooses me to be their therapist.

 Q: What kind of clients do you like working with most?
A: I have worked with a variety of clients throughout my career and I tend to connect with young adult females. As a female who experiences every day struggles, including life transitions, insecurities and high anxiety, I can relate to females who are going through similar experiences. I also really enjoy working with teenagers. I did not have a clue about therapy when I was a teenager. As an adult, I have learned to cope with and manage my mental health. Sometimes I wonder how my teenage years could have been different if I knew more about mental health then. I often tell my teenage clients that they are several steps ahead of their peers because they are accessing counseling and are learning healthy ways to deal with their current struggles. This also betters then later on in life.

Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession?
A: My clients. My clients are strong, unique and amazing individuals. I learn so much about life and living from my clients. Every one of my clients comes to the session because they are invested in taking care of themselves. They may not know it at the time, but they are dedicating that time to bettering themselves. That alone is progress. 

Q: What gets you out of bed in the morning?
A: A great book and Cameron’s coffee. Technically I am still in bed when I am reading, but I love to stay curled up in bed in the morning and read before I get my day started. I make my coffee every day with my beautiful, shiny, well-worn, red French Press. If you have not had the pleasure of tasting coffee brewed from a French Press, you are definitely missing out. Ask me about books. I have several great recommendations.

 Q: What is your favorite breakfast item/vegetable/meal?
A: I love, love, love fruits and vegetables. I crave beet salads especially with extra goat cheese. Edina Grill has the most delicious brussel sprout appetizer with goat cheese, honey and almonds. I love how crispy the sprouts are. The goat cheese is warm and delicious and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I will crave these brussel sprouts for an entire week and the craving never leaves until I satisfy it. As you can tell, I am a huge fan of goat cheese. Trader Joe’s sells blueberry goat cheese and I will eat this straight out of the package with a spoon. I also love chocolate. I am certain that I eat chocolate every day. Dark chocolate is my favorite, but I will eat anything chocolate that is put in front of my face or just happens to be laying around the office tempting me. Mmmm... chocolate!

 Q: How do you celebrate living in your body?
A: I enjoy spending time outside. When the weather is nice, I take my dog for long walks or go on hikes. I also really enjoy traveling and I try to take a couple of trips out of country each year. There is so much to explore in this world and I can’t imagine a life without travel. Learning is very important to me and I like to take classes, workshops, read, etc. I often feel amazed by all of the resources for learning and how much there is out there to learn about.

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: In all honesty, I feel as if energy healing chose me! I am simply saying YES!!  For the past couple of decades, I have been studying and focusing more deeply on self-care and wellness. In 2017, my father was declining with Lewy Body and Parkinson’s disease. As a way to elevate my own care, I signed up for a Reiki level 1 training. During the class my body was exhilarated and curious. Reiki felt so natural to me. I left the training hungry for more, knowing I would sign up for Reiki level 2. As my father continued to decline, I continued on my path of Reiki. One of the greatest gifts Reiki offers is you can perform the healing on yourself. After my level 1 training, I committed to daily practice in bed each night before drifting off to sleep. This practice became my centerboard through my father’s death and deepened and informed my growing curiosity about the loving and healing practice Reiki holds.

Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession?
A: The human connection of the work is what keeps me coming back. I love to go deep and feel the emotional and energetic intricacies of the world. Energy healing is my calling and I continue to say yes to the work each and every day.

Q: What kind of clients do you like working with most?
A: As a practitioner, my mission is to empower people to reconnect with themselves and to accompany them on their own paths of self-discovery and self-care. Looking ahead, my wish is to build a practice based on integrity and to work with open-minded individuals seeking to find balance and harmony in their lives. I also have a particular interest in working with individuals that have ongoing health challenges and have yet to reach their ideal wellness. For me personally, energy work was a missing piece to my optimal wellness. Once I learned more about healthy energetic boundaries, my health challenges began to decrease and balance returned to me.

Q: What are you currently working on in your professional life?
A: I am expanding my knowledge of energy healing through the accredited program of Healing Touch. Although both Reiki and Healing Touch are forms of energy healing, they each lend themselves well to different circumstances with clients.

Q: What is your favorite beverage?
A: I enjoy teas of all kinds. I am particularly fond of green tea. I find tea can be a terrific tonic, something you can sip on for leisure or you can turn to tea when you need a pick me up!

Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: I am particularly fond all of the trails and lakes we have to take advantage of here in the Twin Cities. I like to venture out with my family and our dog Harriet. I enjoy living locally and exploring all of the little shops and eateries in my neighborhood as well. Creating works of art, spending time in museums, knitting, hiking, cooking and canoe camping in the Boundary Waters are also some of my favorite pastimes.

Q: How do you celebrate living in your body?
A: I love to engage in activities that bring balance, alignment and harmony to my body. Yoga, meditation and chi-gong are just a few examples. Swimming has also been a big part of my life. Water makes me feel magical.

Q: What do you look for in a health care practitioner?
A: I look for someone that is compassionate and practices from their heart. When I work with a practitioner I want them to be a partner in my health journey. They need to be an advocate for my health and wellbeing by listening to me as well as applying their education, knowledge, and expertise.

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: For the first time my professional choices were like a downstream cruise instead of an upstream battle. Before becoming an energy healer, I struggled to work in entry level corporate positions. I was miserable, discombobulated and swearing at my panty hose. Anytime I worked in a job that had to do with alternative healing, I felt exhilarated and intrigued and the opportunities were simply appearing on my path.
 
Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession?
A: My clients keep me engaged. Working with them helps me feel the passion of being alive.
They are rock star warriors who take a stand for their well-being. Also, doing intuitive healing work is how I’m wired. I was adopted when I was born. I found my biological family when I was 20, which had been a goal of mine since I was 5. It turned out my biological mother was an entrepreneur and a psychic in Southern California. When I initially contacted her, she told me she was “waiting for my call.” It’s an intriguing story, but being sensitive has its challenges, believe me.
 
 
Q: What kind of clients do you like working with most?
A: I work with:

• Adults who are motivated to heal, learn about themselves and grow in the process.
• Moms and dads who are struggling with parenting.
• Adults struggling with their sexuality and gender identity.
• People who are ready to unearth and shift unproductive patterns.
• Adults who are open to healing their past and moving forward.
• People experiencing family of origin problems.
• Adoptees struggling with personal identity issues.
• People who currently resonate with the concepts of rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal and injustice and want to feel an innate sense of significance, security and belonging.
• People who are being treated for anxiety and depression and want to utilize a complementary therapy alongside their medical treatment.

 
Q: What are you currently working on in your professional life?
A: Currently I’m working on integrating everything I’ve learned in the past 30+ years, to provide my clients with a complete healing experience.
 
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: Cannolis are fabulous. They’re an Italian pastry; you probably know that, but apparently I “missed the memo” about this delicacy. I had my first one in Times Square in 1999 and screamed, “These are amazing! Everybody needs to know about cannolis!” I felt like I’d discovered one of the seven wonders of the world and should have been on that huge TV screen yelling.
 
Q: What is your favorite beverage?
A: I love flights of complex wines. I think it’s the tiny glasses that make it fun. I used to have this 7-up machine when I was little, where you’d basically put glass bottles in a holder and use a spout to pour tiny glasses of pop. My friend Trissa and I would make it a day-long adventure of walking to the neighborhood grocery, buying bottles of pop (possibly dropping one on the way home due to our giggles) and then viola’! Tiny glasses with liquid.  I sound very European, having favorites of tiny wine and filled pastries.
 
Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: I look for exotic places to travel to or move. It makes my husband laugh. I recently saw a TV news story about the planet Mars and out of habit I said, “We should move there!”
 
Q: How do you celebrate living in your body?
A: I dance! I dance like Elaine on Seinfeld. More than one person has told me this.
 
Q: What do you look for in a health care practitioner?
A: I look for someone who knows their stuff; is educated, experienced, a good listener and has an open heart. I remember when I finally got pregnant with my daughter and my “rather stiff” specialist had me listen to her heartbeat for the first time. I had to sit on my hands and bite my lips, so I wouldn’t scream and hug him. I didn’t care about his “personal skills,” he was kind in his generosity of Spirit. I wanted to name my daughter after him.

Q: How long have you been in your profession?
A: I have been practicing acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) since 2009. I studied at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco, and after many years working in very high volume community acupuncture settings, am excited to delve into deeper relationship with my clients in a one-on-one setting.

Q: What made you choose to pursue your profession?
A: I became an acupuncturist because I had some amazing experiences with TCM in my early 20s, which led me to have a deeper understanding of my physical and emotional self. I am drawn to helping people and once I experienced what herbs and acupuncture can do to maintain and promote wellness I really wanted to learn more to be able to share those tools with others.  

Q: What keeps you engaged in your profession?
A: I love the flexibility and adaptability of this medicine, that it really works by tapping into the innate intelligence of our bodies. I enjoy helping unravel and peel back some of the mysterious layers of symptoms to get back to a proper vantage point where we can see a path forward. I am able to witness time and again what this medicine can do to assist the body in healing, to ease the pain and stress of illness, to find balance and well being, and to bring hope and tools for improvement toward health and wellness.

Q: What kind of clients do you like working with most?
A: I love meeting and working with all kinds of people, especially if they are open to improving their health.  One of the great joys of my practice is getting to meet a wide variety of people.  I have had the privilege of working with and spending time in community with people of all ages from youth to elders, people of color, gender conforming and non conforming, cis- and transgender people, LGBTQIA community, first timers to acupuncture and seasoned long timers.

Q: What health patterns do you like to work with most?
A: I really love helping people maintain and enhance their health especially in the things that come up in our day to day lives - managing stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, colds, flus, allergies, migraines, acute and chronic pain.  I am also happy to help mitigate side effects of medications that may be necessary, but are causing discomfort like chemo and HRT for example.  I really enjoy working with clients to boost their fertility including giving acupuncture support pre- and post-IVF.  I’m always up for a challenge of treating quirky medically inconclusive things that often bring people to finally try acupuncture after having tried other routes.  

Q: What are you currently working on in your professional life?
A: Professionally and personally I have been working on re-establishing a daily Qi gong practice as well as other forms of daily meditation. I have also been interested in and taking classes on Master Tung’s acupuncture, which is a classical acupuncture system that predates TCM, using it’s own distal and unique points for pain as well as internal medicine.  It was originally passed down exclusively within that family’s lineage until the 1960’s when Master Tung began accepting students.  It’s a different system of acupuncture than is taught in schools.

Q: How do you celebrate living in your body?
A: I love hiking in the woods, swimming in beautiful places, and chasing my toddler around.  He doubles as my personal trainer.  I am learning new favorite spots in MN to add to the strong collection of California and East Coast hikes and swimming holes. I’m always trying to improve on my love of the colder months by finding reasons to stay outside.

​Vanashree is an Ayurvedic practitioner and recent addition to our team.

Authored by Dr. Pharis

February is National Wise Health Care Consumer month – a wonderful reminder that healthcare begins with us, the consumer. 

On a daily basis we are all consumers, and generally speaking, very savvy consumers: we seek the finest hairdresser who knows how to make us look and feel our best, we question our mechanics about their diagnostics and ask for quotes prior to them completing the service, and we hire the most highly trusted nanny to care for our children. Yet when it comes to healthcare, we often disassociate from our role of “consumer,” and play a more passive role in the relationship with our practitioners. There exists an unspoken mentality that questions shouldn’t be asked, the practitioner is always right, and we can’t know the cost until after we’ve received the invoice. But why? Your provider is working for you, you pay for their service, and you have a right to know or ask about your health.

An ideal practitioner-patient relationship really should be seen as a meeting of two “experts.” The practitioner brings to the table their medical expertise to assist the patient in recovery, and the patient brings a wealth of contextual knowledge and expertise needed by the practitioner in order for them to properly assist the patient. 

As consumers of our health (aka “patients”), it’s time we become empowered self-advocates in the doctor office and with our health care team. Here are a few tips to help you embody your expert status and advocate for your health. Follow these ABC’s to help optimize your consumption of healthcare:

A: Ask questions & always trust your gut

• Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor to clarify, explain, or use layman’s terms. Patients present with varying degrees of knowledge, and doctors may assume you understand what they are explaining.
• Ask for printed or electronic records of test results, labs, or important health documents. Create a personal health folder at home for yourself to best keep track of your health.
• Remember, nobody knows your body better than you! If something feels off or different, don’t settle with not getting answers or help. Likely there is something that needs to be addressed. 

B: Be prepared

• Prior to your visit with your practitioner, write down questions or concerns you’d like to discuss. A thorough medical professional should ask you all of the pertinent questions for a proper assessment, but it is best to be prepared in the case they don’t.
• Share any changes you’ve had in symptoms, medications, diet, or family health history. Don’t assume the practitioner will ask about these changes.
• Take notes during your appointments. While you may think you’ll remember what your practitioner told you during the visit, it is best to take notes to accurately recall the information discussed.

C: Communicate concerns and desires

• Let your practitioner know what your goals and concerns are at each visit. Doctors and practitioners are not superhuman mind-readers! They are there to serve us, so be clear about your expectations to avoid any guessing games.
• Communication is about asking questions, challenging thinking, and knowing your options. If you’re not comfortable with the treatment your provider is recommending, say so! Healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all model. It should be individualized to match your goals while still supporting your health.

It’s important to remind ourselves that finding a trusted healthcare provider may take time. Ask friends and family members for referrals, research practitioners beforehand, and contact offices prior to scheduling in order to clarify any questions you have about their services. If you don’t feel your current provider is listening to you or helping you achieve optimal health in a way you are comfortable with, consider changing providers. Don’t be afraid to ask your current practitioner for a referral if they aren’t a good fit for you. A genuinely caring practitioner will understand, want the best for you, and will be happy to provide you this information. This is your health we are talking about. The single most important element of your existence! You wouldn’t return to your hairdresser over and over if they continued to provide you with a haircut you didn’t like…would you?

We were honored to welcome Dr. Sidney to our practice at the beginning of the year. Dr. Sidney is a naturopathic doctor, specializing in pediatrics and women's health.  Recently we asked her to help us get to know her a little bit more by answer a few questions about her work and her personal life. Read on to see her response. 

What made you choose to pursue your profession?
My parents would be quick to answer this question by saying that as a young child my dream when I grew up was to be a “baby doctor.” As long as I can remember, I have always had a strong passion for working with children and knew in some fashion I would incorporate this into my lifelong work. It wasn’t until after I graduated with my bachelor’s degree when I first heard about Naturopathic Medicine, and it immediately resonated with me. As a child I grew up on a hobby farm where I spent a great deal of time in the garden with my parents harvesting fresh food, and learning how a whole-foods diet positively impacts health. I had a very healthy childhood, and rarely visited the doctor or took medications. I now realize how lucky I was that my parents provided me with a strong foundation to health through diet and natural means. I am forever grateful. Practicing Naturopathic Medicine has allowed me to share my own experience of health and wellness with individuals of all ages. From preventing illness in children and newborns to addressing underlying causes of illness in the chronically sick, it is my goal to educate patients on their options and let them take health in their own hands.

What keeps you engaged in your profession? 
Prevention and docere (doctor as teacher) are the top two fundamental principles of Naturopathic Medicine that I can’t wait to share with my patients, and that keeps me motivated and engaged on a daily basis. I feel strongly that if we continue to educate our society, especially our younger generations, about healthy lifestyle practices, we can prevent the rise of chronic illness. Heart disease, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, obesity…these are all preventable!! The emphasis of our current healthcare model is that of reactive care. This is not a sustainable model, and it is my goal to assist in a global movement that focuses on healthcare opposed to treating the sick.

What kind of patients do you like working with most?
While I love working with patients of all ages, my specific passions are working in the areas of pediatrics and women’s health. I also thoroughly enjoy the opportunity working with individuals who are new to Naturopathic Medicine and are looking to begin taking health into their own hands. It’s so fun to help patients become empowered and motivated about their health – those “ahha” moments while they make connections between their health, symptoms, lifestyle, diet, etc, truly are priceless!

Tell us about a time you really connected with a patient.
A very memorable moment in my career was when I began working with the third generation within one family. Knowing I had built that degree of trust and connection with a family is a very rewarding feeling. From both a practitioner and consumer standpoint, building strong and supportive relationships is extremely important to me. It is my goal to build this type of relationship with each of my patients and to do away with the stereotypical hierarchy associated with many doctor-patient relationships. It’s a true honor becoming a part of one’s healthcare team, and an even greater honor when that extends to a whole family.

How do you spend your free time? 
I love spending time with my family & friends, cooking, traveling, exercising, and trying out the many amazing restaurants here in the Twin Cities. In the summer my husband and I love to camp, and we take an annual week-long trip to enjoy the wilderness and tranquility of northern Wisconsin!

How do you celebrate living in your body? 
I love traveling! There truly is no better way for me to both ground myself and celebrate life. I am fascinated learning about other cultures, traditions, foods, seeing them firsthand, and immersing myself in their day-to-day. Traveling is an educational experience that can’t be taught in a classroom – with each experience I come away learning a great deal about both myself and the amazing marvels of our world.

What do you look for in a health care practitioner? 
A main attribute I look for is authenticity. To me this means the practitioner is passionate about their work, is in the business for the right reasons, cares about me and my goals, and is willing to go out of their way to make me feel like I am the most important part of their day.

Schedule a free consultation with Dr. Pharis here.

How long have you been in your profession?
I've been working in holistic health for the past 10 years.

What keeps you engaged in your work?
When I finally did go back to college to finish my undergraduate degree, I went back for nutrition and have been studying the effects of food and diet on health for the past 7 or 8 years. Nutrition keeps me engaged for a number of very personal reasons, but also in a very satisfyingly cerebral way too. It's such a new science that we are learning something unique about food every day - which is why one day saturated fat causes heart disease and then the next day there is no relationship at all. It's quite confusing but also humbling. It reminds me how small and insignificant we are in the universe, of how many complexities we have yet to even recognize, much less understand. It keeps me engaged and determined to understand so I keep going back for more. 

What kind of clients do you like working with most?
I really enjoy reminding people how to enjoy food, which is probably not what people expect from a health coach or nutritionist. New clients often expect me to hand them a long list of foods they can never eat again, but in truth I loath restriction. Some of my favorite clients are women who have been dieting for years without getting the results they want, are hating their bodies and come to me to put them on a diet to lose weight. Instead, I teach them about the pleasure of planning, preparing, and enjoying (clean, whole) food, because putting intention and love into it makes it oh so satisfying it leaves no room for junk (food or thoughts/beliefs). It's a super simple approach to a super complicated issue, but I love showing women how to love food...and reap the benefits of a healthy relationship with it. 

What are you currently working on in your professional life? 
I am currently completing my first year of graduate school. I'm working on a Masters in human nutrition and functional medicine at the University of Western States in Portland, OR. It's awesome. 

What is your favorite vegetable?
My dedication to loving one vegetable at a time is quite fickle. I seem to devote a year at a time to a single vegetable, then ditch it for love of another the next year. There was a year of the beet, followed by a year of the radish, followed by a year of the cauliflower. Currently, sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetable. I make sweet potato oven "fries" with coconut oil at least once a week and serve them with a generous scoop of mayonnaise. Oh man, are they delicious!

How do you celebrate living in your body?
Lately I've been really enjoying kettlebells. I was never very interested in physical activity - especially not the kind that is actually challenging - so it really surprises me how much I love it. I also practice yoga, which is something I started doing in high school to help me cope and it just stuck - I've been practicing for about 15 years now. 

What do you look for in a health care practitioner? 
I look for someone who can make healing a lighter burden to bear. I guess that requires compassion, an attentive ear, respect, and humility to recognize me as the expert of my body. 

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What made you choose to pursue your profession?
While pursuing my undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech I worked as a research assistant investigating breast cancer. I felt that in our research we were looking at the wrong end of things. We were looking for modern treatments for cancer but we weren’t looking at what causes cancer. As a nursing assistant and from shadowing doctors I saw patient care first hand and I knew there had to be more to medicine. Visits were rushed, the same prescriptions were being handed out over and over again. Honestly, from a practitioner standpoint it felt boring! There was no variation in patient care. When I learned about naturopathic medicine it was everything I was looking for. Naturopathic medicine looks for the root cause of illness and focuses on prevention. We approach patients as a whole person and treat them as individuals. Every day is exciting and different. Even if every patient comes in with the same chief concern they will likely all have different treatment plans. My favorite part of my job is connecting the dots for patients. Together we work through their concerns and dig in to the root cause. I love the lightbulbs that go off and the empowerment they have knowing they are taking charge of their health. 


What are you currently working on in your professional life? 
I am fascinated by nutrigenomics. This new field analyzes your genetics and uses those as a guide for what diet, lifestyle, nutrients, supplements might be most beneficial for you. With low cost genetic testing available we have so much more information about our bodies at our fingertips. I like to think of genes as building blocks. We are each given a certain amount and shape, we build with them what we choose. Just because you have the building blocks that could create cancer (family predisposition) that doesn’t mean cancer is your destiny. Our environment, (what we eat, how we feel, how we move our bodies, chemicals we are exposed to..) all play a significant role. Knowing your genetic information can be very empowering. This is a new field and I try to take as many continuing education courses as I can as more information becomes available. 


What is your favorite food?
I adore hamburgers. The Twin Cities have many options for grass-fed beef burgers. I love to make my own hamburgers as well. My favorite toppings are caramelized onions, mustard, and arugula.


How do you spend your free time? 
I try to spend as much time as possible with my family, which includes our two “fur-babies” Charlie and Lucy. My partner and I are constantly tending to our growing backyard garden. I also serve on the board for Naturopathic Doctors in Minnesota and spend some of my free time working on educating the community about Naturopathic Medicine and growing continuing education opportunities for NDs in Minnesota.


If you could change one thing about healthcare what would it be?
I couldn’t pick one so I wrote two…

More collaboration and respect among health care providers. I believe as providers we all have our place and role in healthcare. I often see patients who aren’t helped by conventional medicine. On the other hand, there are times when I will send patients to a conventional medical doctor for a prescription medication. Working together is in the best interest of the patient. I would love to see our system change to be more inclusive, respectful and collaborative.

Patient empowerment. Too often I see patients who feel disempowered by the healthcare system. I want my patients (and everyone!) to know they are in charge of their bodies. It is a doctor’s job to lay out all of the options for the patient but ultimately the patient makes the decision. 

Take your first step towards optimal wellness and schedule a free consultation with Dr. Barrett .