Small Town News

Tranquil Healing Center opens in Belfair

---

Naturopathic physician focuses on patients' causes, not symptoms

As a naturopathic physician and licensed midwife, Dr. Terra Sowinski said she focuses on her patients as entire beings and not just their medical conditions and doesn't place them "in the box of that illness."

With the naturopathic approach, "You treat the cause instead of treating the symptom," said Sowinski, who last week opened Tranquil Healing Center in Belfair. "You help people get rid of the disease instead of managing it."

Services at the naturopathic primary care center in the Beynon Center at 23781 State Route 3 include wellness exams and physicals, blood work and other laboratory tests, minor surgery, gynecologic exams, nutrition consultations, homeopathic consultations, hormone therapies, prenatal care and attending births.

Sowinski said she approaches her patients by zeroing in on the three foundations she calls "the basics of good health" nutrition, exercise and stress relief.

"If you don't have a good foundation, your house is going to crumble," she said.

With nutrition, "If you're not eating well, we can give you a milliori supplements and you still won't be well," Sowinski said.

She analyzes the eating habits of her patients, and encourages introducing healthy food while gradually eliminating unhealthy choices until the cravings go away.

"You can't overhaul a diet overnight," she said.

Helping people lower their stress is the most difficult task, the doctor said.

'You have to make changes ... It's not just about sitting and breathing, but find-ing what brings them joy," Sowinski said.

The key to relieving stress is to carve out time in your schedule to immerse yourself in an activity you love, she said.

Sowinski said about 90 percent of her patients suffer from allergies, and she conducts many tests. The patients immediately feel the benefits when those allergies are addressed she said.

Sowinski grew up in the Kent area, but became enamored with Mason County while her family spent summers vacationing on Treasure Island near Grapeview. Sowinski studied exercise medicine at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., where she was introduced to naturopathic medicine. She became more intrigued with the practice while working at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.

"I liked the idea of prevention rather than treating disease," she said.

Sowinski enrolled at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Port-land, Ore., where her education included studies in hydrotherapy, massage and homeopathy. She earned her Naturopathic Doctorate (N.D.) and became a Licensed Midwife (L.M.) in 2007.

After volunteering her services at a birth center in Bali for three and half months, Sowinski began practicing at the Able Wellness Center in Belfair. She brought along some of her clientele when she opened her own practice Aug. 21 in the center of town.

"Belfair is a great location because you can serve the Shelton area as well as Port Orchard and Bremerton," she said.

Sowinski said she hopes potential clients don't confuse her with people who earned an online degree from a nine-month course and bill themselves as naturopathic doctors.

A misconception of naturopathic practitioners is "that we're all hippie doctors ... I look a little more like a doctor than a hippie," Sowinski said with a laugh.



Copyright 2012 Belfair Herald, Belfair, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

More from Belfair Herald