📍 Office Move

Instinctive Wellness has moved to a new office location!

The office is now located at 818 High Street, Suite 5, Chestertown, MD. The suite is on the third floor, and there is an elevator available. Once you step off the elevator and turn the corner, Suite 5 is the first door you will see.

There is now a waiting room, so when you arrive, please have a seat there until I can come out to greet you.

📱 New Patient Text Messaging

I am currently working with Athenahealth to roll out patient text messaging. This feature is still in alpha status, so some parts may be a little glitchy at first, but the goal is to make communication easier and more convenient.

Please don’t be surprised if you begin seeing text messages from the practice. After-hours texts may receive an automatic reply directing you to call the office or use the patient portal. Please note that the portal remains the primary intended form of communication, since the phone is not staffed.

Text messaging will work similarly to portal messaging. If a message requires medical-level review or guidance, the same messaging fees and policies will apply. Additional security steps will also be used to help protect your health information if sensitive information is discussed, though it is still important to make sure your phone itself is secure.

Thank you for your patience as this system rolls out.

✨ Reiki and Nervous System Support

As I continue to grow as a practitioner, I am understanding more and more how deeply our health is connected to the nervous system and to the mental-emotional patterns we carry through daily life.

Because of that, I am increasingly recommending Reiki as part of the healing process for those who feel called to it. Reiki has been one of the most meaningful tools in my work, both because it can offer another layer of insight into what may be happening in the body and because it helps create a container for the nervous system to settle, which is vital for repair.  When the nervous system begins to feel safer and more regulated, the body is often better able to shift out of chronic stress patterns and into a state that supports healing, restoration, and vitality.

There is also growing scientific support for the idea that energy-based therapies can create measurable changes in the body. Research has shown effects in areas such as stress hormones, autonomic regulation, heart rate variability, and other markers of physiologic change. Broader electromagnetic field research has also demonstrated measurable effects on wound healing, bone healing, and connective tissue repair. While science is still working to map every detail of the mechanism, the larger picture continues to support what many practitioners and patients have experienced directly: these therapies can help the body move into a more regulated and restorative state.

If this resonates with you, Reiki may be a meaningful addition to your care and another way to support your healing, health, and vitality.

🩺 New Focused Integrative Visits

I am also recognizing that not everyone is ready or able to begin with the full Initial Functional Medicine Fusion Consult. Time, finances, scheduling, and mental-emotional bandwidth are all real factors, and I want my practice to better reflect that reality.

Because of this, I am now offering Focused Integrative Visits. These are 45-minute, problem-focused visits designed to address one specific health concern at a time through a functional, integrative, root-cause approach. This creates a step-by-step option for people who want access to more holistic care in smaller, more manageable pieces, rather than beginning with the full multi-system deep dive.

This option may be a good fit for those who want to address a specific issue, those who prefer a more episodic approach, or those who are not yet ready for the full Initial Functional Medicine Fusion Consult.

On the Athena patient portal, these appointments will appear as problem visits.

If you are already an established patient and have completed the full initial consult, you are still welcome to use these visits when you need to focus on one specific issue. Please keep in mind that these appointments are limited to 45 minutes, are intended for one concern at a time, and will not have the same overflow flexibility as a Functional Medicine Follow-Up visit. If you already know that you have several concerns to address or will need more time, the Functional Medicine Follow-Up visit will still be the better choice.

💚 Thank you

Thank you for allowing me to be part of your healing journey. I am grateful to continue learning alongside you as we listen more deeply to the body and discover what it is asking for.