What we offer
Hormone Replacement
An art as well as a science. Dr. Doerfler has been balancing hormones for women and men (and all in-between!) of all ages for the past thirty-three years. Getting the right form, delivery method and dose takes experience and artfulness to get it right. Using plant based hormones in uniquely protective forms, we rely on the whole picture, not just labwork. Safe, effective and affordable. Mother Nature thought those of us who are at least middle aged would be dead by now. We take pleasure in adjusting her program. The third third of our lives can be full of Living!
Naturopathic Primary Care
Just like your 'regular' doctor, a medical history, examination, and (if needed) lab results are first. Diagnosis before treatment sounds simple—but in conventional medicine, the diagnosis is passed over in favor of a standard treatment for the symptoms without a clear understanding of the mechanisms involved in the illness. After examination and diagnosis, naturopathic medicine relies on natural interventions in physiological pathways to address acute and chronic illness without solely relying on pharmaceutical medicines. We believe that the healing power of nature is a potent force that the body has naturally and sometimes the best way to get well is to enhance those pathways by removing obstacles of unhealthy lifestyle habits, diet and the processes of the mind.
In Washington state, naturopaths are licensed in primary care, which means we are trained and licensed to be your family doctor.
The scope of practice for ND's in WA includes prescriptive rights for all antibiotics, antidepressants, blood pressure medications, muscle relaxants and other medications historically used by medical doctors. Used in moderation and only when necessary, combined with natural medicines and a healthy dose of lifestyle modification (yes, that means diet and exercise), WA naturopathic physicians can deliver the best of both worlds.
In my primary care practice we use primarily food medicine, physical medicine, evidence-based nutriceuticals, herbal and orthomolecular medicines (amino acids), internal focusing techniques, breathing and stress reduction. With a holistic naturopathic practitioner, your deepest and most profound state of health is brought into focus.
Naturopathic Psychiatry
The neurofeedback system we use is called Neuroptimal. Neuroptimal is a non-entrainment type of brain biofeedback that relies on another naturopathic principle: the Viz Medicatrix Naturae (“the healing power of Nature”). In this view, there is always a whole and healthy person underneath the maladaptive practice.
This neurofeedback system is able to ‘speak’ to this part of us and remind it of its original, healthier patterning, and then reset the habits of a brain that has accumulated the layers of coping skills—some of which are outdated, cumbersome and sometimes quite damaging. These lessen our ability to be fully alive, expressive, and able to live as our best selves. It has been compared to “clearing the windshield” so you can see where you are actually going.
This way of working with the brain is non-invasive, causing no side effects. The patient’s best and deepest navigator determines the speed and direction of change. People just forget to be dysfunctional. It takes enormous (unconscious) energy to have insomnia, phobias, chronic anxiety or an inability to focus. This system introduces to your brain your own easier smoother way to move through the demands and opportunities of your life, in whatever phase. Habits like procrastination, emotional reactivity, road rage, substance dependence, hypervigilance all respond to this gentle and profound way of working with the brain. The sensory integration issues that folks along the autistic spectrum experience are often lessened. And personally, after using neurofeedback I stopped having recurrent catastrophic thinking, which has eased my days immeasurably.
In addition to offering neurofeedback, our practice incorporates dietary counseling with special regard to our relationships with food and the brain. There are nutrients that act as mood medicines in the brain, crossing the blood/brain barrier and providing the same neurotransmitter balancing that the more common mood medicines prescribed by medical doctors and without the side effects. There are foods that are psychoactive that can produce anxiety, depression, short attention spans, insomnia and a variety of other mood disorders. These are combined in our office with counseling, nutritional analysis, and neurofeedback to provide a truly effective alternative to conventional psychiatry.
We also offer analysis of genetic sequencing should the patient desire to explore this aspect of their health. There are currently cutting edge technologies of testing psychiatric suitability for mode medicines. With 23andMe source data, we can utilize information from the genome that will best predict which mood medicine will be the most effective and least problematic for the desired effect.
Physical Medicine
The human body is built to move. Restoring motion in the spine, the muscular system and the limbs can restore vitality and improve mood, memory and over all engagement in life.
In addition to the Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree from Bastyr University (1992), I have a doctoral degree in chiropractic medicine from Western States Chiropractic College (1989) and extensive training in soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament) treatment for forty plus years. I have been the chiropractor for Pacific Northwest Ballet and Greenpeace. I was named Best Chiropractor in Seattle in 1992 by the Seattle Weekly. I did Swedish massage and Shiatsu house calls in NYC with a ‘portable’ massage table carried through the subways.
My theory is body workers are born, not made. If that is indeed true, I was born one. I remember working on the tight shoulders of my camp counselor to good effect when I was nine.
Headaches, neck pain, concussion and traumatic brain injury respond especially well to a combination of structural techniques, brain biofeedback and systemic medicine. My training makes me uniquely able to combine chiropractic and naturopathic medicine with over thirty years of practice and a persistent passion for learning.
Wellness Starts Here
“People breathe like it costs a lot of money. Five deep breaths five times a day will transform your chemistry, your mind and your emotional state. If only we could remember to do it. We are mostly starving for oxygen, in the middle of a feast of air.”
— Trina Doerfler D.C., N.D.
