{"id":17526,"date":"2019-05-15T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T00:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fxnutrition.com\/?p=17526"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:00:31","slug":"what-is-a-functional-nutrition-counselor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fxnutrition.com\/blog\/what-is-a-functional-nutrition-counselor","title":{"rendered":"what is a Functional Nutrition Counselor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you likely know, I\u2019m 100% in service to the Functional Medicine<\/strong> model. I believe it\u2019s designed to address many of the key problems we\u2019re facing in healthcare today\u2014problems where patients are getting sicker and sicker and chronic health challenges are not being addressed.<\/p>\n

Functional Medicine<\/strong> aims to look at the whole person and move toward root cause resolution (as opposed to just symptom management). This brings more sustainable outcomes to the patient population and, ultimately, more successes for clinicians in practice.<\/p>\n

Just this week I heard from a friend about a young woman given a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Her doctor gave her the diagnosis and stopped there. No explanation as to what \u201cfibromyalgia\u201d means, what\u2019s going on in her body that\u2019s creating her pain, or what she can do to feel even the tiniest bit better. She was just told to \u201cwait and watch.\u201d To me, this is unacceptable.<\/em><\/p>\n

That young woman doesn\u2019t need to suffer. And she certainly doesn\u2019t need to wait and watch. Doing nothing simply provides further opportunity for the imbalances that led to that chronic pain to manifest elsewhere in her body (as new signs, symptoms and possibly even additional diagnoses)!<\/p>\n

A Functional Medicine physician would likely not buy into the \u2018wait and watch\u2019 approach, and we don\u2019t need to either. There is plenty that can be done to help this patient to identify her behaviors as they relate to her suffering, and move toward the nutrition and lifestyle modifications that will enable her to take more ownership of her daily experiences. As it stands, not only is she at the whim of her doctor\u2019s willingness to take some action, but she\u2019s also at the whim of her very own body. To her, there is no rhyme or reason for why her body is deceiving her.<\/p>\n

And yet, there is<\/em> rhyme and reason!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s just going to take time and patience to uncover those reasons and to educate her on how she can take back control of her own health and manage her own symptom expression.<\/p>\n

Enter the Functional Nutrition Counselor<\/span>!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Functional Medicine has not only identified that diet and lifestyle modification are a top priority for patient success-stories, but it\u2019s also recognized that patient education is essential. <\/em>And let\u2019s face it, patient education takes time and specific skills\u2014time and skills that the physician likely does not have. So while the concept of Functional Medicine provides a solution, the model also has a gap. It\u2019s a gap you can fill.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for the nutritionists, health coaches, registered nurses, physician\u2019s assistants, dieticians, nurse practitioner, acupuncturists, massage therapists and other integrative practitioners to step up and fill the gap. We do this by thinking Functionally. And I can teach you the systems that will enable you to do so.<\/p>\n

Functional Nutrition holds the keys to the Functional Medicine model\u2019s success. And stepping into the role of Functional Nutrition Counselor<\/span> holds the keys to your success!<\/p>\n

#FunctionalNutrition holds the keys to the #FunctionalMedicine model\u2019s success.<\/span>CLICK TO TWEET<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

The results?<\/h3>\n