Jim's Acne, Depression/Low-Selfconfidence

I first found Natalie on a podcast earlier this year. Her story and philosophy towards achieving full health really resonated with me. I had been a follower of Mary Ruddick prior to this, so finding out that she was one of Natalie's mentors was great to hear. I decided to schedule a free consultation with Natalie to see if it made sense for her to help me on my continued health journey.

I have had symptoms of sub-optimal health since in my early teens. It started out with a bad case of food poisoning, followed by severe acne, and then a very difficult 6 month course of Accutane. While the acne did improve, I still had skin problems into my late 20's, along with self-confidence and other mental health issues. Then at 27 I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer, and underwent 3 months of chemotherapy. That experience led me into the search for healing in the alternative/holistic medicine world, mainly focused on diet and supplements to try and achieve optimal health. While this would seem like the best route, the past 10 years have seen many ups and downs, with a lot of frustration along the way. There is lot of information about there about the best alternative protocols for healing. It is very confusing, and you end up getting nowhere while spending thousands of dollars along the way. I found that in many ways the holistic medicine space is no better than standard Western medicine care. It can be full of people just wanting to sell you false hopes, and you end up not being able to cure your ailments and break free from their care. I have worked with many practitioners along the way, so it has become very difficult to trust that a new practitioner is going to be the one that helps bring success. I was apprehensive at first about working with Natalie, but I am so glad that I decided to do so. To start, she is kind, empathetic, and a wonderful listener. Her own health journey has shaped her abilities to help guide me in the right direction. It is so easy to talk to her, and I always feel better after each of our sessions. After the 1st session, Natalie provides you with her initial recommendations. It is a very thought out individualized plan. There is no one-size fits all approach with Natalie. Each plan is customized to fit your needs, and adjustments are made based on your feedback. It is very important to provide as much feedback as possible along the way. She is so knowledgeable when it comes to diet and lifestyle interventions that providing her with the data will only help you achieve the results you want. I am an analytical/numbers person, so that fact that she recommends spreadsheets for tracking lab work and progress make working with her that much better. She has opened my eyes to many other ways of healing the body. I always focused on just diet and supplementation, but she has brought my attention to other factors related to both mental and physical health. Such things as meditation, breathwork, cold/hot therapy, yoga, and gratitude journaling have make a huge difference in how I feel. I also do not try and distract myself with screen time and social media. I have gained a new appreciation for being mindful and living in the moment. I also have gained a joy for reading that I never had before. Natalie has some great recommendations for books to read. It is in no way a quick fix, and Natalie does not give you any unrealistic expectations in terms of a timeline for health. It is really a health journey, and I have learned to enjoy the journey rather than just focus on the end goal. I am the most confident that I have been in a long time in terms of knowing that I am on the right path. I focus more on the positive things in my life rather than the negative. The name of her practice fits perfectly with what Natalie does. She gives her clients confidence. Confidence in themselves and in her. I look forward to continuing to work with Natalie, and look forward to the successes that will come along the way. I highly recommend her! Thank you, Natalie, for all your help so far.