03 Aug FDN Practitioner Spotlight-Elise Purcell

This is the article posted on FDN, my school’s website in August, honoring me as practitioner of the month.

Practitioner Spotlight – Elise Purcell

Elise Purcell, H.H.P, FDN-P

Like many FDNs, Elise understood what it felt like to go through the “cycle of trial and error” with her own health challenges.  Over the last 10 years,  she had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, borderline Auto-Immune disease, Gout, Lyme Disease, a parasite that took 5 years of treatment to get rid of, leaky gut, extreme heavy metal toxicity and food sensitivities, adrenal exhaustion, two forms of long-term pneumonia…  and the list went on and on!

Elise had been practicing Nutritional Counseling for seven years prior to finding FDN.  She found that, though her clients did have significant health success, in more recent years, were starting to present deeper challenges that were not being healed by diet alone.  She yearned to help them find the root cause and avoid the guessing game like she had experienced, thus her journey to FDN began!

“I feel some of these were mis-diagnoses, but to say I have “been through the ringer” is an understatement.  This is why I am so passionate about helping others find an easier way.”

Elise believes that we can’t just address one aspect of our health and expect to truly heal.  She added that labels and diagnoses are sometimes important and helpful but often pigeon hole the person into sickness mode.  And she was pretty sure that is what had been happening to her, despite all of her efforts to stay positive, most doctors still kept telling her how “sick” she was.  Through FDN training, Elise had learned how to support key areas of her body including the adrenal glands, mucosal barrier, detoxification systems, metabolic processes, absorption and assimilation, immune and defense mechanisms and steroid hormone balance.  She admits that she is still working on her health but can finally say that she is feeling great and leagues ahead where she had been. Also added that she just keeps feeling better and better with this model of health!

“FDN’s a model of rebuilding health instead of only treating disease is truly holistic in that we look at ALL aspects of the person and help the whole person, not just the “disease.”

Elise’s biggest challenge during DRESS(Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress Reduction and Supplementation), from her perspective as a “retired” Type A personality, was not over-exercising.  She had always been a very active person and happy to move.   She had to learn to cut out certain types of exercise to nurture her body and heal. A major take home from FDN training for Elise is that empowerment is everything!  She feels that if a person knows what’s going on inside their body and why, they are more inspired to make the commitments to improve their health.

Elise shared, that FDN has proven to bring remarkable improvements for her clients health and faster than she had expected!   While it took Elise many years to get to the root of her own dysfunction, she finds that it is a joy to see just how easy and fast it can be when armed with a the right knowledge and a clear path.  Elise added that FDN sets up a container to truly help the whole person.

“Working with a client in this way is a constant reminder that we are all different and special, and that is a good thing…each one of us is an intricate mandala that should be treated with love and care. We should not and cannot rush healing, but we can make it as beautiful a process as possible, and helping someone to see it in that way is purely a pleasure.”

Elise has a thriving practice and shared her clientele is mostly 30-50 year old entrepreneurs, but does get clients of all ages.  She finds that most of them have adrenal concerns and gut imbalance or dysfunction of some degree.   Elise graciously let us in on how she structures her business services.  First she offers a free twenty minute consult, after the consult, if the person still expresses interest and is a 10/10 commitment level she will share her program details.  She added that she requests a down payment upfront and that finds that her clients are motivated to complete the process faster when they have invested themselves financially.  Also, her programs are structured as a three month minimum commitment of meeting every other week and finds that most clients continue well after that to further advance their health.  Way to go Elise!

Along with FDN, Elise is certified as a Nutritional Counselor, from IIN.  She also has certifications in Advanced Rolf Method of Structural Integration, Upledger Craniosacral, KRI Kundalini Yoga Teacher. Elise is a H.H.P. and has been practicing several Holistic modalities for the last 10 years.

Elise’s top tip for her fellow FDN-Ps, is to talk about FDN as much as possible and trust that your clients that need you will find you!

Check out Elise Purcell’s Website: www.integrationforlife.com