Nutritional Therapy
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After three years of self-discovery, I entered the NTP program, where I was one of fourteen applicants (out of over 300) to receive a scholarship to the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner program. The NTA is an intensive program that wants its graduates to be successful in the world at large. Their training is well-rounded and comprehensive. They want their graduates to represent them well, and they adequately equip their students to do just that. The program covers a multitude of modules covering in-depth anatomy and physiology, organ systems, the ripple effect of each system/how each system impacts the other, and signs and symptoms that commonly manifest in these systems, largely caused by our conflict between how we eat in a modern culture versus how we were designed to eat.
We were designed to eat, move and live as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did. Genetically and cellularly, we are 99% the same. Our sedentary lives and distance from natural eating habits and patterns have created epidemic deficiencies.
Additionally, NTPs are trained in a Functional Evaluation element to their program, where the practitioner lightly palpates specific organs and systems to test for sensitivities and deficiencies (they do not ever diagnose, unless they are licensed to do so (I am not)!). They then progress into testing specific nutrients and foods to each "hot" spot, to determine which elements the client responds to on a bio-individual level. Meaning, each element of an NTP's work and recommendations is specifically tailored to what that very individual client needs most. There are no generic, one-size-fits-all plans in my line of practice. This is a fun, efficient, effective and fascinating process that removes the guesswork of conventional supplementation programs , which is always optional for those not ready for the hands-on portion.
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Starting in 2005, I began a lifelong adventure as a plant-seeker. I worked on organic veggie farms, apprenticed at the prestigious Herb Pharm in southern Oregon, searched high and low for precious wild edible and medicinal plants, participated in an ethnobotany plant study on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota and was a dedicated student at PrairieWise Herbal School in Kansas City. After seeing clients as a community herbalist and leading workshops and plant identification hikes (I still love to do these, please inquire!) for over eight years, I became disheartened that the majority of my clients were wanting quick fixes for chronic conditions. They wanted the plant-based version of a pharmaceutical drug (plants don't work this way (heck! allopathic medicine doesn't work this way!)). My foundational recommendations time and again were: FOOD FIRST, but most did not follow the plan. Plants will act supportively and nutritively. They can be deeply nourishing, but they are not everything. They are not what ultimately leads to optimal health. Through my journey into the black abyss of Dr. Google, trying to diagnose and self-medicate my mystery dis-eases (please refer to the "About Amy" page), I discovered the Nutritional Therapy Association (NTA) through a fellow autoimmune sufferer and NTA graduate. I knew that I had found my long-lost passion: a school that trains practitioners in the ways of Ancestral Health. I could present myself as a "Foods First" practitioner, whilst using my beloved herbs for supportive purposes.