Our Approach to Functional Medicine

Functional Medicine is a personalized form of health care that places its emphasis on prevention and the discovery of underlying causes rather than merely focusing on symptoms. It is a science-based field of health care that recognizes that the human body functions as an orchestrated network of interconnected systems. Our examination focuses on core clinical imbalances including diet, nutrients, lifestyle and trauma. We then examine a multitude of factors including hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances, toxicity and detoxification pathways, immune dysfunction, inflammatory conditions, digestive, absorptive and microbiological imbalances and structural disorders.

To accomplish this, we utilize a wide palette of cutting edge laboratory testing. However, in addition to the information these tests can give us, we are also acutely aware that “Anything can cause anything”. Quite often, the information determined through laboratory analysis is only the tip of the diagnostic iceberg. A whole spectrum of factors that are difficult to adequately test via lab work can be at the root of our health conditions. 

These factors (to list only a few) include:

·         Chemical and heavy metal toxicities

·         Unresolved or chronic viruses, bacteria, fungi and mold

·         Hidden food allergies

·         Structural disturbances

·         Unresolved dental issues 

·         Scar tissue disturbances

·         Unresolved psychological influences

For this and many additional reasons, we also utilize energy-based systems of evaluation alongside our more traditional methodologies. In this arena, we are heavily influenced by the pioneer work of two German physicians, Dr. Reinhold Voll, who first popularized the electrical measurement of acupuncture points to determine energetically unbalanced areas of the body and Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, who extended this work while utilizing Muscle Response Testing.Dr. Klinghardt’s work measures changes in muscle strength, while specific body areas chosen for their role as neurological reflexes and acupuncture points are stimulated. Instead of connecting electrodes to these areas, as one would with an electro-cardiograph machine, the practitioner contacts the reflex area with the fingers of one hand while testing the muscle strength of an extended arm.

A weakening of the arm on contact with the reflex area signifies an underlying imbalance in the related organ or system. The next step is to prioritize the importance of these findings. For example, if the liver, kidney and lower spine all weaken on contact, it is important to know which area has the highest priority for treatment. The next step is to then test the priority area to determine if it is being compromised by any underlying stress factors. Finally, the practitioner tests for the most beneficial supplements, herbs and/or homeopathics to counter the stress factors(s), support proper detoxification pathways and strengthen the involved organ(s).

The clinical information gleaned from this approach has proven invaluable with thousands of patients seen in our practice, over the course of three decades. While this type of evaluation is quite different than the western norm, there is scientific basis for this type of evaluation. Subtle responses in the Autonomic Nervous System, which functions at a subconscious level to maintain a constant internal environment within our bodies, can be easily influenced by energetic stimuli at a skin level. This is due to the fact that the Sympathetic Nerves, which aid in the control of most of the body’s internal organs, run primarily at or near the skin surface as they carry the enormous amounts of information that is constantly coming into our bodies via our sensory organs.

This type of testing merely utilizes and systematically measures the body’s constant response to sensory stimuli. Used in this way, it functions as a highly effective adjunctive tool for assessing health status and core health factors.

Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine also form a strong foundation for our work. We make great use of a number of ancient (and time-tested) diagnostic tools from these traditions. These include pulse, facial, tongue and hara (abdominal) diagnosis.

At Healing Partnership, we use both cutting-edge traditional diagnostics and energetic approaches to develop customized treatment plans for each and every patient. We have found this integrative approach to be both highly successful and cost-effective. We are able to identify, at a core level, the real causes of autonomic dysregulation and produce the results we have always felt were possible for our patients.