If youre looking for a mainstream, or allopathic, physician, there are many ways to find one through a referral from your family doctor, from your health insurance plans network, or from various directories and its easy to check their credentials.

But when seeking practitioners in naturopathic, holistic, integrative and non-Western health care, the search is not so straightforward.

A group of Berks County practitioners in these fields are beginning to solve that problem with Downtown Wellness Berks, or DWB, an organization officially started in November 2018 to create a network of local affiliates, including both practitioners and suppliers of related products such as organic and locally sourced foods. It will share resources, hold informational events and provide a directory for people seeking to live a healthier life.

DWB is the brainchild of Courtney Shober, a certified integrative health coach and other local practitioners who gathered around the Farmhouse Kitchen, a restaurant in West Reading owned by Martie Samuel.

Shober calls the restaurant the gold standard when it comes to clean eating, and it has become a gathering place not only for dining, but for learning about healthful food.

Shober, as the Farmhouse Kitchens educational coordinator, has been facilitating speakers and moderating panel discussions at the Farmhouse Classroom in the restaurant since returning to Berks County three years ago after a 10-year absence.

The 2001 Schuylkill Valley High School graduate had earned a bachelors degree in music industry studies and worked in that field in the New York City area. Finding herself dissatisfied with her career, she decided to make a change, focusing on helping others achieve a healthier life. She enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York and earned her certification.

When her husband was hired as a teacher in the Reading School District, they moved into the GoggleWorks Apartments in Reading, and Shober embarked on her new career. She quickly found many friends and colleagues in various integrative health fields in the area, and began inviting them to speak at the Farmhouse events.

It was at these events that she and her colleagues saw how hungry their audiences were for information on how to find various healers and places to shop for healthful, organic foods.

Around 2017, they started discussing how they could help with this problem, and, thanks to a suggestion by another of their colleagues, naturopathy practitioner Dr. Henriette Alban, Living in Balance, 103 S. Fifth St., they came up with a plan to establish Humanitarian Social Innovations, a Bethlehem, Northampton County nonprofit, as their fiscal sponsor. They applied for support and were accepted.

They have 21 affiliates who pay $120 a year to be part of DWB, which has a website, http://www.downtownwellnessberks.com, where the affiliates are listed with their contact information and a bit about who they are and what they offer.

These are basically pre-vetted businesses with a shared philosophy and set of values, Shober said. We have spent the past year building a strong foundation, clarifying our mission and establishing committees. Next we will hold community events, probably starting with a Meet the Affiliates night.

Jennifer Dillow, who started Awakened Aloha Health Coaching in Hamburg five years ago, is part of the core group who created DWB.

A Pottsville native who started out as an X-ray technician and taught high school biology, Dillow switched careers when she had her own health problems and was unable to find relief from allopathic physicians.

While studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, she saw that they have a more proactive approach to health care and were open to Eastern and Western medicine. She called this her Aha! moment, and decided to learn about integrative medicine.

She began integrated health coaching about 20 years ago, and is working on a doctorate in natural medicine from Quantum University in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In addition to her own practice, Dillow works for Dr. Jeffrey L. Marrongelle, a nationally known doctor of integrative medicine and owner of Bio Energymed Metabolic Institute, with offices in Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County and Fogelsville, Lehigh County.

Ive seen a lot of people who dont have something major going on, she said, but they have chronic fatigue, weight gain where they cant seem to lose any pounds and hormone imbalance. Theres lots of stress, and that wreaks havoc on your body. It affects the pancreas and the thyroid. Once that starts, it sets you up for the perfect storm: the metabolism is off, and all the hormones are affected.

Many people have forgotten what it feels like to feel good. Their body has adapted to accommodate the stress.

Dillow, who is affiliated with Culture Shock Performing Arts Center, a dance studio in Hamburg, encourages clients to do yoga and take classes in the studio, as well as to walk in nature or simply bounce on a trampoline for a while to reduce stress.

She also counsels them, over a six-month period, on healthy eating, the use of essential oils and other tools to maintain their well-being. Each client receives a personalized plan to help them reach their goals. If they wish, she also refers them to specialists in other modalities.

When Dillow was in the process of trying to connect local organic farmers with local eateries, she reached out to Samuel at Farmhouse Kitchen, and stumbled on the community of like-minded people there. She brought in her friend, Crystal Kulpcavage, whose solo practice, A Sense of Purpose, Wyomissing, coaches people in transition.

I help people design and achieve meaningful lives and meaningful careers, Kulpcavage said. No matter how well you eat, how much you exercise or care for your body, youll have difficulty sustaining physical health if something is wrong in your heart and soul.

We all have an inner craving to be proud of who we are and what were doing with our time in this world. My specialty is to help people with their professional wellness.

She said many people want to make a major change in their careers, but inner fears and other barriers keep them stuck. She first helps them with healing practices and character-building practices, developing self-esteem and confidence, and looking at their strengths and weakness and how to improve the latter.

Then she and the client work on setting goals that are both achievable and meaningful. She gives the client support, accountability and motivation as they work together for a minimum of six months.

Kulpcavage said on of her clients, within four months, resigned from a career with which she was unhappy, decided what business to start, got her first paying client, moved across the country, quit smoking and grieved the loss of her father.

Another client, after 35 years in a corporation and many failed attempts at starting a business, within six months retired, chose a business he was proud of and got it off the ground and running. Two years later, he is set to make $500,000 in revenue.

Kulpcavage said she was a software engineer for 12 years, and found herself unsatisfied after some major life-changing events. She went through a program similar to what she does now and added a certification in professional coaching to her bachelors degree in computer science and her MBA.

When she started coming with Dillow to the Farmhouse Kitchen, she was elated to hear about DWB and got on board.

Ive wanted this for a long time, Kulpcavage said. There just wasnt a great place to find out what kind of practitioner people needed to help them. We can refer people. we all understand each other and can match clients with the right practitioner.

Contact Susan L. Pena: specialsections@readingeagle.com.

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Downtown Wellness Berks helps those who seek alternative health care - Reading Eagle

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