“ Nature is genius. The good news is you are nature. Unlock your inner genius and heal from cell to soul. – DR. TRACI POTTERF, PHD
I’m Dr. Traci Potterf, a Functional Health anxiety detective. I help growth minded professionals overwhelmed by anxiety to find and fix the hidden causes with natural solutions so they can live a limitless life at peace in their own skin.
Anxiety is not “all in your head.” I noticed early on that when I helped people address the root causes of their chronic health issues, their anxiety resolved as well, even with family histories and traumatic pasts. (Hint: Mental health is physical!)
As a psychiatrist’s daughter, former medical anthropologist and recovered severe anxiety sufferer, I have a unique perspective on the mental health epidemic that I’m on a mission to share with the world.
I have your back, even if you’ve been told its genetic, have struggled for years and feel like you’ve tried everything. Also, I get it, because I have been there.
PS: Don’t worry about where you live. I work long distance!
My Personal Story
As the daughter of a psychiatrist, I grew up working in my dad’s office and even accompanied him to do rounds as an “emotional support kid” of sorts. I had my first panic attack at the age of 19. There was mental illness in my family and back then it was considered a “genetic chemical imbalance.” I was terrified I would lose my mind and never have a “normal,” much less joyful, life. I knew about the side effects of psych meds, and, deep inside, they didn’t feel right to me, personally. I started questioning our medical system for the first time in my life, which, was extremely taboo in my dad’s world.
My dad was closet gay as well as severely abused and neglected as a child. His whole life he struggled with what psychiatrists would label as PTSD, level one autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intermittent explosive disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and OCD. He was too ashamed to admit he needed help, much less seek it, even though he was a psychiatrist… well, actually, because he was a psychiatrist.
He was alternatingly loving and psychologically abusive every day of my childhood, which caused me complex PTSD, huge self-esteem issues and, as I would later learn, chronic health struggles. This led me to dive deep into trauma healing and nervous system reconditioning as well as the impacts of nervous system dysregulation on physical health, as the mind and body are one in the same.
Professionally, I started out as a medical anthropologist. By then I had accidentally lost 50 pounds living in Spain and was beginning to realize the impact of food quality, lifestyle and culture on health. However, I was still struggling with anxiety. I also had gut issues and some chronic pain, but did not see a connection at the time. While I was working on my PhD at UC Berkeley, I participated in the joint program with UCSF Medical School where I had a realization that changed my life.
In grad school I studied the effects of industrialization on indigenous cultures, mental health in Cuba under Castro’s dictatorship and how our health care model is corrupted by the politics of big pharma and big ag. I quickly realized that we are so mentally and physically ill, because we are not living in alignment with our evolutionary biology. We have a culture that tries to override nature, and not work with it’s vast intelligence.
We have an economy and political landscape that is heavily biased in favor of synthetic chemcials that can be patented, crowding mama nature right out of the picture. We then try to solve the ills of our artificial world with more and more artificial “solutions” that, in the long run, fail to effectively address underlying causes and often make things worse, not only for humans, but for the entire planet. As a result, so many of our most basic human needs are not being met and our planet – our very source of life itself – is being destroyed.
I came to see mental and physical illness symptoms as a nature’s request for nurture…and as a wake-up call for humans.
The path of my career changed course after I applied what I had learned to help my mom overcome Crohn’s disease using only lifestyle interventions and supplements. She was able to stop immunosuppressant drugs, save her colon (which doctors said was impossible) and has been in remission since 2004. She has also maintained a 90 pound weight loss since 2014, ditched psoriasis for a decade (to her dermatologist’s shock), cleared arterial plaque, healed from deep trauma and so much more.
My personal healing journey has played an equally profound role. Using science-backed natural solutions from Functional Medicine, traditional wisdom and trauma informed nervous system rewiring, I have successfully reversed, not only the debilitating anxiety that plagued me for years, but also other health issues that I now know were all interconnected. These include digestive disorders, toxic mold, lead paint poisoning, chronic pain -including fibromyalgia symptoms- and fatigue, complex trauma, low self-esteem and more. I have also maintained my 50-pound weight loss without “dieting” and have kept it off into middle age.
This is why I can deeply empathize with clients. I truly get what it’s like to work through complex trauma, struggle with your health, feel overwhelmed, worry you’ve tried everything and fear that it won’t ever get better… I’ve never been so happy to be wrong! In fact, my life, while it has its bumps, has just gotten better and better since I have fallen in love with the tools and strategies that I share with clients.
My Love Affair with Functional Medicine
Along my journey, I discovered and fell in love with Functional Medicine. For those of you who aren’t famiIiar, it is a high integrity movement of health practitioners and scientists commited to side stepping medical politics to the extent possible and using the safest, most effective science-backed solutions. The focus is on finding and addressing the root causes of illness, instead of just covering up symptoms with drugs that don’t necessarily fix the problem and can often cause quite dangerous side effects. If I had not had the health detective skills of Functional Medicine, I shudder to think what would have become of me.
One of the most crucial understandings we must have is that our minds and bodies are one in the same as are our nervous systems and immune systems. This is why mental health struggles and complex chronic conditions go hand in hand!
I am so proud of my incredible clients that have, not only overcome doubt and freed themselves from chronic anxiety, but have also drastically improved and even recovered from conditions that cause anxiety, like:
- Gut and Microbiome Disorders
- Autoimmunity
- Depression
- Debilitating cancer treatment side effects
- Metabolic Syndrome (Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Belly Fat, etc)
- Fibromyalgia
- Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
- CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) and MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity)
- Toxic Mold, metals and other environmental exposure
- “Stealth infections,” like Lyme/ tickborne illness, Epstein Barr Virus, parasites, Long COVID-19 and MSIDS (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome)
- PTSD
What is your Inner Genius and how can it help you heal anxiety and chronic complex conditions?
Nature is genius. It is not a place we visit on a hike or camping. It is what we are. This intelligence resides in our cells, DNA and atoms as well as is the essence of our consciousness. All of existance is intimately, intricately and quite literally interconnected. In my personal and professional experience, I have learned that in order to heal, we must shift our perceptual lens to better understand, deeply respect and work with, not against, the infinite intelligence of nature.
I no longer beleive the widespread myth that anxiety and other chronic conditions are just the genetic luck of the draw (although I’m fascinated by genetic and epigenetic factors). Anxiety and other debilitating symptoms are natural responses to an unnatural culture that normalizes – even incentives – poor lifestyle habits, toxic exposure, traumatic stressors and the resulting medical conditions.
I see all symptoms, including anxiety, as nature’s wake up call letting us know something is off.
Research shows that over 90% of illness is rooted in our lifestyles, which includes our daily thoughts, actions and environment (both physical and social). This is why most healing doesn’t happen in an office or hospital. It happens in our most extraordinary ordinary moments of the lives we choose to create.
There is a lot of complex science telling us what traditional wisdom has known all along:
Nature is genius. The good news is that we are nature, and when we unlock our inner genius, we can heal from cell to soul.
The most innovative solutions honor the interconnectedness of nature – as above, so below.
Brain trick gift! It’s one of my favorite tools to help calm anxiety and overwhelm as well as physical and emotional pain. It is also a fabulous way to get a natural high that is simultaneously grounding, expansive and brings you into clarity.