Breathe - just saying the word, can make you want to slow down, rest, focus. This was foremost in my mind when I named my integrative medical practice. I want to help my patients find time to breathe - find time to be healthy. All too often, when I recommend healthy lifestyle changes to a patient, I hear, “I don’t have time”. I understand. However, true and lasting health takes time and intention. My desire in this integrative practice is to help my patients find the time to create their healthiest life.

Another reason for choosing the name Breathe, is that the act of breathing itself can make us healthier. Slow deep breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system and calms you down. It increases oxygen to your brain and other vital organs, and it promotes circulation and lymph flow. I want to teach you how to breathe in a way that calms your mind and nourishes your body.

Last, but certainly not least, I believe that everyone has been created in the image of the Creator and that the very breath of God is in each of us. My heart’s desire is to honor that in each person and to treat everyone with respect and compassion as, together we pursue optimal health and wellness.

Holistic Care

At Breathe I evaluate and treat all of who you are - body, mind, spirit. Real health and wellness requires attention to all these areas of our life.

Time & Attention

I take time to really get to know you and pay attention to your concerns. Appointments at Breathe are much longer than a typical medical provider’s visit. The initial visit is 75 minutes long, most other visits are 50 minutes, though patients can choose 20 minutes visits if desired.

Real Solutions

Lasting solutions to most health concerns require more than a prescription. I believe healthy lifestyles offer the greatest chance of improving health and wellness. At Breathe I want to empower you to make the changes necessary to find real solutions to your unique healthcare needs. I want to walk along side you and help you create healthy habits.

Integrative Medicine integrates all evidence-based treatment options – conventional, complementary, and alternative to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Treatment plans may include conventional medical therapies (prescription medications, standard lab testing, or referrals to other medical specialists), just as you would receive with any provider. However, your integrative medicine treatment plan will likely also include dietary guidance, supplement recommendation, exercise prescriptions, specialty lab orders, natural remedies, mind-body approaches, stress management skills, or other evidence-based complementary, natural, and alternative therapies.

Integrative Medicine values conventional medical practice. It appreciates that modern medical science has provided much to minimize symptoms, heal disease, and alleviate suffering. It simply considers and offers other evidenced-based treatments to help achieve the best possible outcome.

Integrative Medicine is not fringe medicine. In fact, many major healthcare systems including the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Duke University Health System, and MD Anderson maintain Integrative Medicine Centers as part of their healthcare systems.

I believe the human body is fearfully and wonderfully made with a tremendous ability to heal itself given proper care and environment. Therefore, much of my focus is helping patients manage stress, optimize nutrition, and improve fitness – creating healthy lifestyles that give the body what it needs to heal.

Lifestyle Medicine is the practice of helping individuals adopt habits and practices that promote health and prevent, treat, or reverse disease.

The Lifestyle Medicine provider prescribes, guides, and implements behavioral interventions to assist patients in establishing healthy lifestyles that can improve well-being. Areas of focus may include, but are not limited to, stress management, relationships, spiritual connection, sleep, body weight, fitness, and nutrition.

The first visit is usually 50-75 minutes long, depending on which initial visit you choose to schedule.

Prior to your visit, you will receive an email with several forms and questionnaires. The information you provide on these forms allows my assessment to really begin days before we even meet. Please have these forms back to me at least 48 hours prior to your appointment to allow me adequate time to review them and prepare for our visit.

Here is a list of some of the forms, though others may be added for various conditions:

• Symptom Questionnaire

• Medical & Surgical History

• Preventative Health History

• Family Health History

• Current Medications and Supplements

• Nutrition & Lifestyle History

• Readiness Assessment

• Perceived Stress Questionnaire

• Sleep Diary

• 3 Day Nutritional Diary

During your first visit, I first spend time just getting to know you. Together, we will review your questionnaires and history forms to fill in any details needed. I will perform a physical exam, fitness assessment, and a nutritional evaluation. Lab and/or imaging will likely be ordered.

Together, you and I will create an individualized treatment plan, based on your specific conditions, preferences, and personal health goals. This plan will often include exercise prescriptions, mind-body techniques, nutritional guidance, supplement recommendations, and prescription drugs and/or referrals as needed.

A follow up visit is almost always needed. Since your treatment plan may need to be adjusted after a review of any lab or imaging results. During the follow up visit, I will also explain your tests results, so you have an understanding of what is going on inside your body.

More details of what is included in each initial visit can be found on the Visit & Pricing page

NPs and MDs receive similar training in the basic sciences and medical diagnosis and treatment.

Nurse practitioners perform the same medical exams, diagnose the same conditions, order all the same lab tests and imaging, send referrals to specialists, and prescribe the same medications as would any doctor.

The training physicians receive does take longer and is broader in scope, to include training in surgery, certain procedures, and critical care which nurse practitioners do not perform/provide.

Instead, nurse practitioners choose a clinical focus at the start of our training and receive extensive training in this particular area of patient care. The focus of my training was family medicine - allowing me to see patients of all ages in the clinic or ambulatory care setting.

Nurse practitioner training does not include all of the surgeries, procedures, or critical care skills included in physician training, it does include similar training in anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, clinical examination, testing, diagnosis, and pharmacology - all of which allow nurse practitioners to offer the same care in their chosen specialty.

Nursing practice places a very strong emphasis on patient education, behavioral modification, emotional support, and holistic care. These, I believe, provide nurse practitioners a unique perspective and special skills necessary to help our patients.

Texas law requires all nurse practitioners to have a written collaborative practice agreement with at least one medical doctor. I have excellent relationships with several local physicians and collaborate with them as needed to ensure a high quality of care. I personally believe that this collaborative practice adds to the value of care provided.

Though Nurse Practitioners in Texas have these collaborative agreements in place, we do not need to consult a physician in every case. Nurse Practitioners most often examine, diagnose, and treat patients completely independently.