Full Body Systems Graduate Spotlight: Heidi Kaufman Lackowitz

Heidi is a Certified Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Practitioner who used to feel like she didn’t have the knowledge or confidence to work with any condition beyond weight loss. Now she’s working with complex clients and teaching other clinicians how to use Functional Nutrition with their clients. Read this short interview we did with Heidi to learn how she transformed herself and her practice (and how you can do the same!)

FNL: What did you struggle with before taking FNL courses?
Prior to discovering FNL, I felt like my practice was stuck in a rut; all my coaching was focused on weight loss, even when I could tell there were other symptoms that were either driving the weight gain, or of a chronic nature. I didn’t have the physiological knowledge or confidence to work with any condition beyond weight loss.

FNL: How have you changed since FBS?

For myself, internally, I feel like a true Allied Functional Medicine Practitioner. I now have the knowledge, language, framework, and systems which give me confidence. I’ve mostly used my new-found confidence to educate and enter into discussions with physicians and clinicians.

FNL: How has your practice changed?

My practice has shifted as my education has deepened within Functional Nutrition Lab. While I do still see some individual clients, my client base has become more mental health clinicians themselves—psychologists and therapists. My work with them is more educational, explaining Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition, and then, depending on their need, presenting to their practices via Zoom, consulting with them on certain clients, or developing content for patients.

FNL: What changes have you seen in your clients?

Specifically, with my clinician clients, I see them returning to me for more education on different Functional Nutrition subjects within the field of mental health, and repeatedly coming to me to consult on specific questions for particular clients that they have.

FNL: Please share something specific that you’ve done to grow your practice or attract more clients.

For me, collaborating with other practitioners has certainly helped my practice grow. Understanding their patient pain points, and what would be most useful to them, has helped me to refine my offerings to be more attractive. It’s also afforded me an opportunity to educate practitioners on Functional Nutrition and show them how Functional Nutrition can help to improve their outcomes.

FNL: Do you have a specific success story that you’d like to share?
I was recently invited to meet with a large children’s hospital to educate their Vice President, Director of Child and Family Resilience, and Registered Dietician on Functional Nutrition and how a Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Practitioner differs from a traditional dietician. I never would have been able to speak intelligently about changing the healthcare industry terrain without my FNL education.

By: Andrea Nakayama, FxNA Founder & Functional Medicine Nutritionist

Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.