Monthly Archives: January 2023

Dr. Erica Steele – So we’re gonna talk about integrative health versus functional medicine, and we’re gonna talk about the differences between the two. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor in family practice. I’m trained in both integrative medicine as well as functional medicine. I hold six degrees in my field, and they’re all in the natural healthcare space, and I am drugless.

Doctor, so thank you for tuning into my channel. So let’s talk about it. So functional medicine versus integrative medicine, they both work together as a team beautifully, and we’ll talk more about that. So integrative healthcare integrates the whole person. So it looks at all different aspects, but so does functional medicine.

Can look at all different aspects. I find integrative medicine does deal a little bit more with, let’s say, the psychology psychological of the person or the emotional aspects. They use some mind-body modalities, and functional medicine does too, but it’s heavier. The laboratory diagnostic sites.

So we’re really using lots and lots of labs to be able to evaluate. And there are not a lot of diagnostics that are in the Western world that we use to consider, let’s say, emotions. And so functional medicine does have its. Place because it’s looking at your nutrient deficiencies, accumulated toxins, overall organ health and function, and areas of prevention to get to the root causes of why a person may be unwell.

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Physically. It doesn’t really do a lot in terms of the emotional side of the person or what mental aspects are the person. Some functional doctors can have additional training. But they often don’t have some of the required activity, so they’re just gonna look at the patient simply from a physical perspective.

Integrative medicine has more of a mind-body approach. It talks a little bit more about how mindset plays into it, a little bit more about the. Psychological of the person, but it also deals, it allows for depending on the person’s training and more drug therapy, surgery interventions, or procedures.

So an integrative healthcare provider, as long as they’re an allopath, has those particular modalities to offer and bring into the mix. Functional doctors can’t also have that additional training. So there are a lot of different providers. I see both of them as very similar but more of a modernized naturopathy.

So, naturopaths were the original nature cure. We believe that the body is whole. Prevention is number one. We also think Doctor is a teacher. And so we do spend a lot of time educating. And then secondary to that, traditional osteopathic doctors were more holistic when Dr.Andrews was still founded. Still, when they joined in with the Am A, they lost a lot of their, unfortunately, holistic practices. And then Allopaths, they are. Definitely trained more in the allopathic approaches like drugs and surgery, et cetera. However, over the last several years, they’ve been learning a lot more about natural health practices to integrate into their practices, which has been very exciting to see.

Functional medicine providers can be from various different back. They can be medical doctors, they can be osteopaths, they can be chiropractors. I often see a lot of chiropractors doing functional medicine practices and functional neurology, which is exciting to be able to help with various neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and dementia, et cetera.

And so they can help serve that patient population from a realistic perspective. And so functional medicine providers can also be. I’ve even seen some acupuncturists doing functional medicine. It’s a that’s a little bit of a stretch just because of their initial training. They’d have to go through some formalized practical medicine training programs.

To add more of the Eastern and Western approaches to their practices. And then, even I’ve seen some physical therapists start incorporating functional medicine into their routines. So hopefully, that helps to educate you about the differences between integrative health and functional medicine.

They work very closely together, and I love both modalities and use them in my practice as a board-certified naturopathic doctor. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you have any comments or questions, please share, subscribe, and send them below. Thank you.

Dr. Erica Steele – How can holistic health be defined? My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor in family practice. I hold six degrees in my field and they’re all in the natural healthcare space, ranging from all sorts of different things from psychology, natural healthcare sciences, natural medicine. I’m a board certified naturopath.

I have a public health degree, hundreds of certifications. I left out a whole bunch. Let’s talk about holistic health. This is probably one of my favorite topics. This is one of the reasons why I’ve become a holistic doctor, is really to help educate people about what it truly means to live a holistic lifestyle.

So what does that mean? We look at the. Physical of the person. Most of the time people come in with a physical ailment. So I will serve families that, let’s say their children have an issue like eczema or autism, and they bring their children in because they want answers. They wanna a holistic approach.

They wanna learn how to transform the health of their family. Or they’ve gone through the gauntlet of allopathic medicine and it didn’t work. Then I’ll work with people that have chronic diseases. So I’ve worked with people that have had a well range of diseases from digestive disorders, i b s colitis, Crohn’s to neuroendocrine conditions such as thyroid conditions, Hashimotos I’ll, I’ve worked with people that have had just hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism.

I’ve worked with people with metabolic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome. I’ve worked with people that have had autoimmune conditions, cancers. All different types. I’ve lost track of all the different nuances of health expressions and disease expressions that I’ve worked with.

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Cause I’ve worked with so many people. I’ve worked with over 40,000 people since 2009. So it’s a lot of people that I’ve seen in all different states of their health. I’ll also work with people with mental illness, so those people that struggle with anxiety, depression people. Struggle with s schizoaffective disorders, all kinds of different mental health challenges, post-traumatic stress, trauma responses, et cetera.

I work with high level professionals, doctors, lawyers, CEOs of companies who really wanna optimize their mental emotional. As well as physical health so that they can perform. Because when you are playing a big game at a really high level, you need to really be optimized to be able to perform.

And then lastly, I work with people in the metabolic health realm. Meaning people that want to lose weight, gain weight, or even athletes that want to, let’s say run a marathon or climb Mount Kilimanjaro. All kinds of different components that I work with to. People who are training for different things, and so I work with a full gamut of people, and so that’s what really brings them in is all these physical ailments that they’re wanting assistance with that, like I said, they’ve either been failed with our traditional medical community or.

They just already know that’s not in alignment with their philosophy. So they come in. Cause I treat people from all different spiritual backgrounds, all different cultural backgrounds and all different parts of the world. And so they come in wanting some physical support and We look at their nutrition, we look at their labs.

We recommend supplements. We also look at the environment, how their households are run, how their relationships are. Do they have healthy boundaries in their relationships? Do they work well with their colleagues that work? Do they enjoy their job? All of those things impact their physical health.

Then we look at their mental health, their mindset, their limiting beliefs, their core beliefs, their subconscious mind and their conscious mind. What is stuck and what’s not working in their mind that is not allowing for healing and health to, take hold. Then unfortunately, fortunately, we unbury all of the emotional health and wellbeing of the person.

So these are things that have not been dealt with. They’ve been suppressed for whatever reason. I know for me, What got me into this practice for sure was my post-traumatic stress that I have healed. I was very emotional and I had to perform and survive, and I pushed down all kinds of emotional issues and so I really worked on bringing those up and healing them and continue to this day.

And so it is an ongoing practice. Spirituality I work with people on and mostly so that they. Be in alignment with their higher self. They can trust their self, they can be an intuition. So if you’ve had any kind of trauma, a lot of times you don’t trust yourself because you were told that this was acceptable when it wasn’t.

And so there’s a lot of distrust in our bodies and our minds and our spirits and our decision making. And so getting all of that back into alignment so that they can, a person can really be in tune spiritually. And ancestor only. So I am trained in genetics and methyl genetics. We look at that aspects of the person.

So we look at the data of it, which is really interesting, but also look at transgenerational traumas. Those are traumas that are passed down from generation to generation and how that impacts the physical health of the person behaviorally as well as nutritionally. Cuz certain people need certain macro ratios in their diet, but also too how that’s gonna impact disease and how a person can really take ownership over their health and not be a victim to their genes.

Genetics only counts for less than 30%, some say even less than that. The rest is lifestyle driven. So when we’re looking at holistic health, we’re looking at all the details and. We have to see the person as almost like a puzzle and we have to put all these puzzle pieces together and we organize it and prioritize it.

And so ob obviously when we, when a patient comes in, they wanna get to the physical symptoms first. And unfortunately those symptoms have lots of different root causes to them and. We have to dig all of those root causes up and resolve them and heal them for the symptoms to dissipate. There’s an excellent tree that I’ve seen around with functional medicine where it has like all the branches of the trees with different diseases like diabetes or autoimmune conditions or, unforgiveness or whatever.

And then that trunk is all of those root causes. And then we get down into the roots below where you’ve got, genetics and toxicity and lifestyle factors and mindset, and all of those things are hidden underneath the surface. And we have to dig those things up. To be able to help the person heal.

And so I’m really excited for your interest in Holistic health. If you have tuned in this far, you definitely are interested in holistic health and holistic healing, and so if I can help you in any way, shape, or form, I’m happy to do that. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. My practice is holistic family practice.

We help families live naturally, and I do offer a complimentary 15 minute consultation. No obligation and move forward past that if you think that holistic health is a right fit for you. So thanks for tuning in.

Dr. Erica Steele – You wanna learn more about integrative health and what it is as well as what it isn’t? We’ll tune in to find out. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor in family practice. I hold six degrees in my field and they’re all in the natural healthcare space, and I choose to be a drugless.

Integrative doctor, so let’s talk about integrative health. So it’s very necessary that we as doctors I don’t care what kind of doctor you are, if you’re an allopathic doctor or you’re a drugless doctor like me, that you use integrative healthcare because. , it’s important to give the patient what the patient is looking for and what the patient needs.

So that’s why it’s necessary, because even though we may not necessarily be helpful for the patient, it’s important for us to educate the patient about their risk versus benefits. They can make an informed decision and then we send them wherever they need to. , it’s very unethical if providers discredit modalities that they’re not trained in.

And so I see this more so in I see it in both worlds and I see it in both communities where, an allopathic doctor will say that doesn’t work. Don’t do that modality, that’s dangerous, that’s not proven, et cetera. And while it may be true that there’s not a study that proves that it works or doesn’t work, Placebos do work.

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And so if a allopathic provider is not trained in a specific modality, for instance, we’ll just say reiki as a, for instance if they’re not trained in reiki as a reiki modality, I can’t necessarily discredit it because I don’t, I’m not educated enough about it to be able to talk about it in an educated manner.

I can say I don’t know about it, if you. In that, go see X, Y, and Z. There’s a lot of modalities that people will come to me and ask about. And I’ve been in practice for a long time and there’s not a whole lot that I’m not somewhat knowledgeable about or experienced in. So I’m grateful for that to be able to have that broad knowledge.

But even if I’m not, I. I will advise that patient and say, these are the benefits, these are the risks. And then check out this type of qualified provider to be able to help. And so my role is to just send people where they need to go. For instance, I’ll have a patient come in and they say like a patient with glaucoma for instance.

There’s not too many things natural that can heal. It’s just not, there’s not enough data to be able, for me at least to feel comfortable, but I’m going to refer that patient to an ophthalmologist. I’m gonna refer that patient to, somebody that’s specialized in that area to be able to serve that patient appropriately.

I’m not gonna then say, oh yeah, let’s go ahead and try it, because that would be unethical. So it’s really important to know. That our training begins and ends up with where our comfort level is. And so integrative healthcare, while it is an amazing modality because it helps to really help you to see the person as a whole, we really wanna be mindful of recommending modalities that either A, we’re not aware of, or b, we’re not trained in.

We also wanna be mindful of not discrediting things that we’re not trained in as well as equal. . Integrative health really brings that conventional and complimentary approaches together in a very coordinated way. And so sometimes it can be a little challenging because again, if you’re not trained in certain things, how do you know how to coordinate them?

And so I think it’s really important that if you do hang your shingle out as an integrative healthcare provider, That you do, train in various modalities. You also experience various modalities so that you can educate your patient about what it is and what it isn’t. So from a patient perspective, though, integrative healthcare really brings all of it together.

You may have an integrative healthcare provider that’s an MD or a do, and they can either prescribe drugs or they do surgeries, but they can also provide mind body services or nutritional services or supplement recommendations, et cetera. You can also find, let’s say a chiropractor or a acupuncturist who are trained in their primary modality of chiropractic and acupuncturist.

And then there also have some other modalities that they’re trained in, maybe functional medicine or Chinese herbs or they may be trained in breath work or nutrition, et cetera. And so they offer more of a wellness. Based approach. And then naturopathic doctors such as myself, who also have integrative healthcare training, even though I’m not an allopathic doctor, I have been around them and I work with them enough to know when I hear something, I go, oh, you know what?

I wanna, I need you to, I need you to go and see a cardiologist to go get a stress test. Or, I need to send you back to your primary care because you haven’t had a DEXA scan and you’re getting up there in age. Or, oh, you’re over 50, you haven’t gotten. Colonoscopy, you need to go and do those preventative services.

I am able to identify that with my patient. And even though I’m a Drugless doctor, even though I’m a natural doctor, I’m able to advise to make sure that we are checking all of the boxes cuz it’s really about the patient. It’s not about our egos or about what we think or don’t think, et cetera. And so I think it’s really important that we just share.

If we’re not familiar with something, we just say, you know what? I don’t know about that modality, but here I recommend something, somebody to, see a person about that. There’s a lot of various modalities out there. And and a lot of different coaching and that kind of thing. It’s really important that we.

Stay humble and we stay committed to making sure integrative health grows because human beings are very complex and they need multiple modalities to help them get well. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor and family practice and we help families live naturally.

Dr. Erica Steele – Are you curious as to who can be an integrative healthcare provider? Tune in to find out. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I am a holistic doctor in family practice. I hold six degrees in my field and they’re all in the natural healthcare space. I am a drugless doctor by choice, so let’s jump into it. So how do we know who can be a integrative health provider?

So medical doctors can be integrative health providers. Osteopathic doctors can be integrative healthcare providers. Chiropractors can be integrative healthcare providers. Naturopathic medical doctors can be integrative healthcare providers. Acupuncturists can be integrative healthcare providers. And then naturopathic doctors such as myself, can also be integrative healthcare providers.

And. What makes an integrative healthcare provider, and I believe that integrative healthcare providers are created because of the education and the experience, but more importantly, the practical application that they have. I believe that anybody can learn things in a book, right? And where in allopathic philosophy is more driven around the body being flawed.

The organs being separated and not being the whole person. It’s gonna take them a little bit more work to be able to make that transition and that big leap to the concept and the idea that the body is whole. Nothing wrong about that. I just wanna be clear. That when you believe or when you are cultivated as a provider, that the body is separated.

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It’s really difficult to now go into this philosophy that the body is whole. That’s where I really believe the practical application comes in, because if a person has been an allopathic provider and they’ve had personal experience about how, this is broken down or that’s broken down and they’ve done that inner work, I believe that it really helps them when they.

Applying some of these various modalities because they have personal experience. Some of the integrative health modalities or tools that we use, let’s say Reiki, while it’s been studied a lot of times people can’t explain why and it takes somebody to be very open-minded and to be willing to.

Leave that Western medical model and go into some of the more Eastern philosophies of bio energetics. Whereas let’s say an acupuncture who has all that eastern theory and bio energetics, they have to learn how to make that leap over into allopathic western philosophy where they do look at the body and kind of isolate things out because if they don’t, then they may miss something from the patient because while yes, everything is energy.

Sometimes if there is a true health, not a true, but a, but an actual Integrative Health Providers emergency that needs immediate assistance, they may miss that and then not be willing or able to identify and refer to our allopathic medical providers, which I why integrative healthcare is so important. We have to be able to be open-minded, to be able to identify.

The things that may be a disease process that needs to be diagnosed and managed versus let’s say a lifestyle factor or an energetic modality or nutritional issue that we really can be able to support either nutritionally or through detoxification or some of our mind body modalities. I also believe, and this is my opinion, that if you do find an integrative healthcare provider, I really want you to encourage you to look at all of their training and education, for instance.

Nothing gets chiropractors. I love them to pieces and I’m not picking on them by any stretch cuz I know ton of amazing ones. But I find that a lot of times they will operate a little outs outside, outside of their scope of practice. They’ll take a, let’s say a. Workshop and let’s say acupuncture.

And so a weekend is not long enough to be able to really learn a modality and a skill like acupuncture. Yes, they could put the needles in and put ’em in the right positions, but to really be a master at that particular modality requires, a two to four year training. And so we really wanna, even though you can take, a seminar here, workshop here, while that is a.

Introduction into a particular modality. If you really want mastery on something, that’s where dedicating the time and the research and just the structure in an educational setting is really important. There’s certain nuances to practice that you learn. By not just reading, but practical hands-on experience, which is why it’s really important that all providers have a clinical residency as well to be able to learn and be able to grow.

I know for me personally, I learned more working with patients and putting that practical application than I did just reading the information alone. And then I still continued to take continuing education and continue to. My, my studies I’m working on my PhD right now in applied psychophysiology in how that mind and body work together as a team or in, sometimes they work separately, in a lot of cases, and so I think it’s really important that you find an integrative healthcare provider.

That matches your philosophies, number one, that has the education to be able to advise you. Number two, but also has a lot of those practical application skills and has some years worth of experience. I definitely believe that if you resonate with somebody on a deep level, I think all of that is an null and void, however, Just for everyone’s safety and their health.

I really think it’s important that you, number one, definitely trust your gut, but also look at those other principles that I was discussing earlier. So thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Dr. Erica Steele, holistic Family Practice, and we help families live naturally.