Our Team Approach to Healing
“The strength of the team is each individual member.
The strength of each member is the team.”
~Phil Jackson
Leaves of Life takes a collaborative approach towards helping patients restore optimal health.
The Leaves of Life Integrative Wellness Center staff includes a diverse group of practitioners with unique education, training and experience. This group meets weekly to collaborate on patient care. This means our patients receive the benefit of over 100 years of combined experience.
How collaborative consulting works at Leaves of Life:
Because diet and lifestyle changes are often the most impactful (and least expensive!) interventions, all new patients start with a lifestyle educator, either Caitlin Pfeil, a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, or Francie Silverman, a Certified Lifestyle Coach. Our lifestyle educators are trained to evaluate diet, stress management, sleep hygiene and exercise levels (among other variables), then help patients optimize these inputs to create healing space in their bodies. This approach educates and empowers patients and reconnects them to the messages their bodies are sending.
For some patients, this is all that is needed to restore optimal health. Others improve significantly, but need to then move into a diagnostic process that helps identify (most often) infections, toxins or nutrient deficiencies that are impeding the body’s healing efforts. This approach not only ensures patients keep moving forward in their care, but also provides unique learning opportunities for the entire healthcare team.
Let’s meet a few of our patients…
Cheryl* initially consulted with Caitlin Pfeil in mid-2021, with symptom onset after a difficult pregnancy 12 years prior. Her initial PASS (pre-appointment symptom survey) was 85. Her primary complaints were migraines (for which she took daily and breakthrough medications), chronic sinus congestion, excess weight, fatigue and symptoms indicating hormonal imbalance.
Caitlin guided Cheryl in removing gluten and dairy from her diet, balancing blood sugar through food choices, and addressed several GI imbalances that were identified in stool testing. By early 2022, Cheryl’s PASS score had dropped to 16. Though all of her symptoms had either completely resolved or improved, her migraines, fatigue, and congestion persisted. In reviewing her case, our providers felt she likely had infections that needed identified, and referred her to Joanne Corroto, a Registered Nurse and Certified Meridian Stress Assessment Specialist, for a BioMeridian scan. The scan identified signals for Epstein Barr, Strep, Lyme and several other bugs, and Joanne began guiding Cheryl through a treatment protocol to support her body in eradicating these infections. At her last visit in July, 2022, Cheryl’s PASS score was 1!
Eighteen month-old Kalyla* was still breastfeeding when her mother brought her in to see Francie Silverman. A lifestyle coach herself, Mom had already eliminated common allergens and was eating a healthy, balanced diet. Knowing how quickly children respond to laser allergy treatments, Francie referred Kalyla and her mother for laser allergy treatment. After one laser session, Kalyla’s eczema noticeably improved, and after 3 treatments, it resolved completely.
Izzy* had been a longtime off and on patient of Patty Shipley, RN & Naturopath, when she presented earlier this year with complaints of insomnia and frequent urination. Patty did a Meridian Energy Assessment Device scan (MEAD) that, given the current symptoms, made her suspicious that Izzy was dealing with mold exposure. She recommended Izzy either do a urine mold test or see Carol Starr, a Certified Meridian Stress Assessment Specialist for an AO scan. Izzy decided to meet with Carol, who was able to confirm there was a build-up of mold in Izzy’s system. After one month on a mold detox protocol, Izzy’s symptoms were greatly improved. A rescan showed one mold strain remained, so Izzy continued the detox one additional month. Her frequent urination has now been resolved. Her sleep, while improved, is still not completely normalized, so they’re now working together to address infection signals that were also detected when Carol scanned her.
Our team member Joanne Corroto shares her experience with collaboration since joining the LoL team four years ago.
“I’ve found if I try to treat the underlying root cause of someone’s symptoms, such as Lyme Disease, without first addressing the health of the clients’ GI tract and endocrine system, the patient will not get much better. Because Francie and Caitlin specialize in helping patients address these imbalances, I first refer the client to one of them. Once that foundation of a better diet, exercise and sleep is in place, then I can treat them for Lyme and/or other infections because their body can now handle the level of detox required to support that process.”
*Names and some details have been changed to protect patient identities.
We have learned that collaboration is often the key to unlocking complex health challenges.
If you’d like to have our provider team help you feel your best, you can call our front desk, or schedule online here.