Unhurried naturopathic care in Southbury that starts by listening and looks for the cause, not just the symptoms.
We accept many insurance plans. Not accepted: Medicare and Medicaid. See insurance and payment
We want to know when your health began to change, what was happening at the time, what you've already tried, what helped, what didn't, and what may have been missed.
Your medical history matters. So do your nutrition, digestion, sleep, stress, medications, supplements, past illnesses, family history, lifestyle, and home and work environment. Sometimes a detail that seems unrelated at first becomes an important piece of the puzzle.
Dr. Graham and Dr. Bell see new patients. You'll talk through your story with one of them.
The body doesn't work as a collection of separate systems.
Digestive health can influence immune function. Hormonal and metabolic changes can affect energy, sleep, mood and weight. Nutritional deficiencies can affect many different systems. Environmental exposures may add to symptoms in some people.
That's why we look for patterns and relationships, rather than looking at each symptom on its own.
We ask why this might be happening and what changed before the symptoms began. We ask whether several symptoms that seem unrelated could be connected, and whether something is getting in the way of the body working normally.
The answers are different for every person.
Symptoms tell us that something has changed, and relieving symptoms can be important. But controlling a symptom and understanding why it's happening are not always the same thing.
Fatigue, for example, can have many possible contributors: poor sleep, nutritional deficiencies, digestive problems, thyroid or hormonal changes, blood sugar problems, medications, infection, environmental exposures, stress, or several of these together.
So two people can have the same symptom or diagnosis and need very different evaluations.
We don't want to know only what you have. We want to understand what may be contributing to it.
Lab testing can give useful information, but more testing is not necessarily better testing.
We begin with your history and work out which questions need answers.
Sometimes conventional lab tests give us the information we need. At other times, advanced functional or specialty testing may help us look more closely at areas such as:
The goal isn't to collect test results. It's to get information that can help guide your care.
How we choose tests: advanced testingOnce we better understand what may be affecting your health, we build a plan based on you.
Depending on your needs, it might include nutrition, lifestyle changes, sleep and stress support, exercise, targeted nutritional supplements, botanical medicine, changes to your environment, or other naturopathic approaches.
When it makes sense, supportive therapies through Pivotal Health may also be part of the overall plan. Pivotal Health is separate from your naturopathic medical care.
No single protocol is right for everyone. Your priorities, lifestyle, ability to make changes, health goals and budget all matter.
A good plan isn't simply one that looks good on paper. It has to make sense for the person who has to live it.
Your first plan is only the beginning. We want to know what happens next: whether you're feeling better, what has changed and what hasn't, and whether something improved that we didn't expect. We also want to know if a recommendation caused a problem or turned out hard to follow, and whether we need more information.
How you respond tells us something too. As we learn more, the plan can be adjusted.
Your care should change as our understanding of your health grows.
Naturopathic medicine doesn't mean rejecting conventional medicine.
There are times when medications, imaging, surgery, emergency care or a specialist's evaluation are necessary and important. There are also times when nutrition, lifestyle, digestive health, environmental factors or other possible contributors deserve more attention.
We believe these approaches can complement one another. When it's appropriate, we encourage communication and coordination with your other health care providers, so each part of your care has a place in the larger picture.
A diagnosis can be extremely useful. It can identify a disease and help decide the right treatment. But a diagnosis doesn't always explain why this happened to this person at this time.
That brings us back to the questions at the heart of our approach: what may have contributed to the problem, what is getting in the way of normal function or recovery, what can be changed, what can be supported, and what we can do to help promote better health from here.
There's rarely one test, one supplement or one treatment that gives every answer.
Our job is to listen, investigate, put the pieces together and build an approach that makes sense for you.
Listen. Investigate. Understand. Individualize. That's our approach.
You tell us about your health in your own words, from the first symptoms to today, and ask the questions you came with. Your doctor then goes over their thinking with you, and you agree on next steps together. If a test could answer a real question, you'll hear which one and why before you decide.
What to expect as a new patientBook online at any time, or call us during office hours. We'll start with what you've tried.
We accept many insurance plans. Not accepted: Medicare and Medicaid. See insurance and payment
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