I am asked on a daily basis for referrals to other professionals in the area. This is the next in a series of blog posts dedicated to professionals around the Riverland, whose skills and qualifications complement services received at Santosha.
For our next profile, I am pleased to introduce Michelle Harris. Michelle is a passionate, degree qualified Naturopath with 10 years experience in the natural health industry. She has spent time working for one of the industry’s most respected health companies, where she gained an up to date and broad knowledge base in the Natural Medicine field.
In the last few years Michelle has been following her passion, practicing in a busy naturopathic clinic treating a variety of clientele of varying ages with a variety of health conditions and backgrounds.
She has a special interest and understanding in women’s hormonal health and the associated issues including adrenal gland stress, mood problems, thyroid gland imbalances, fertility planning and overcoming fertility challenges, as well as healthy weight management. Having experienced health challenges in this area herself, Michelle understands first hand that it can be confusing and often difficult identifying the underlying problem and knowing where to start your treatment.
Michelle also has broad experience in uncovering and treating various complaints including;
- Digestive issues (IBS, Reflux, Food Allergies and Intolerance’s, Coeliac Disease )
- Fatigue, stress and ‘burnout’
- Autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis)
Michelle’s philosophy is to help you uncover and understand the ‘root cause’ behind your health issue’s whilst keeping in mind your goals and limitations. She incorporates blood testing and functional pathology testing together with nutritional, herbal and lifestyle interventions to provide a holistic treatment plan for her patients.
What does your job involve on a daily basis?
Before I even get to work I always start my day with some sort of movement, whether it’s walking with my cocker spaniel Charlie, riding, running a gym session or simply doing some yoga and stretching. It’s the best way to prepare my mind a body before my work day so I can be fully present with my patients. A lot of my work is done behind the scenes on my days away from clinic or before and after clinic as I research and plan patient’s treatment programs.
How did you become interested in Natural Medicine?
From a young age I suffered with chronic and quite debilitating skin issues and digestive complaints which flared up especially during year 12 studies. I wasn’t offered any relief except steroidal creams and the pill from the medical profession and my family had always utilised Natural Medicine so it was an area we started to investigate to get to the root cause. I started studying and soon started to uncover some underlying causes. I gradually found relief after some hard work investigating different areas.
As I become a young adult I also started to experience some hormonal imbalances, which affected me in various ways as I worked in a fast past, stressful job. This lead me down the path to find harmony and balance and once again uncover more about myself and my health that needed correcting.
It’s fair to say I can relate to a lot of you and understand how hard it can sometimes be.
What is your biggest life achievement?
It’s great to achieve awards and study, however, my biggest achievement has been able to help others like myself as well as my family with their health journeys.
I have lots of goals for the future, and I believe they will come when the time is right.
What is one thing you can help clients with (that the general population may not realise)?
All health complaints whether its cardiovascular disease, mood problems, fertility challenges or digestive issues all have an ‘underlying cause’. I can help you to find this and restore harmony in the body.
Where are you located?
During the week currently at Riverland Natural Health, 44 East Terrace, Loxton.
You can call the clinic on 85844868
Also Saturdays at Aloe Health in Adelaide http://aloehealth.com.au/about-us/
What do you enjoying doing in your spare time?
I’m a fairly simple person, I don’t need a lot of things to keep me happy, just family, friends, animals and healthy food.
Being a country girl (growing up in Loxton) I love being outdoors and spending time with my loved ones (including our beautiful dogs). I love cooking and creating healthy alternatives to share with patients. Cooking is like therapy for me. I also love being active, in the last few years hiking adventures with my husband have become a regular love.
If you’d like to learn more about Michelle, benefit from her health tips, recipe inspiration and lifestyle advice, you can follow her on Instagram or Facebook under Michelle Harris: Naturopath.