Margaret Beeson, licensed naturopathic physician and founder of Yellowstone Naturopathic
No two people are the same. So when it comes to health care, shouldn’t each path of treatment be unique?
Treating illnesses with a cookie-cutter approach is not ideal. Fortunately, that isn’t the case for patients of Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic, a practice that embraces personalized therapies tailored to each patient.
In its 30-plus years of operation, patients visiting the Billings-based Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic have benefited from holistic treatment. The clinic closely looks at the patient’s lab results, family history and physical symptoms, as well as the mental, emotional, environmental, social and spiritual factors that could affect their health.
“We are like your old-fashioned family doctor. Our relationships are very important. We spend a lot of time with patients,” said Margaret Beeson, licensed naturopathic doctor and the clinic’s founder. “The biggest issue is trying to understand the cause of illness instead of treating symptoms. That’s why we are not treating the symptoms of headaches, for instance. People have different reasons for having headaches.”
A different approach
The concept of naturopathic medicine is more than a century old. Beeson began her training in the field after working in health care settings as a nurse and Navy medic/physician assistant.
The comprehensive approach to treatment that is at the heart of the naturopathic philosophy appealed to Beeson when she began training in the field, and she has made it a bedrock of her practice.
One example of what that looks like in practice: the time investment providers make when working with patients. In conventional medicine, the doctor-patient relationship has become increasingly transactional, particularly for physicians who are under pressure who juggle a lot of patients. At YNC, doctors take time to get to know the patient and understand their malady.
“We are detectives,” Beeson said. “We take an in-depth look at a patient's medical history and ask questions about their health that aren’t commonly asked. This allows us to determine what a condition actually looks like. It takes time and is more productive in the long run.”
Attentive listening and thorough physical examinations
The clinic puts an emphasis on what patients say and their health history, but it also focuses on the lost art of the physical exam. Beeson recounted the story of a recent physical exam in which she discovered a tumor in the patient’s abdomen. The condition had been overlooked by other types of health care providers.
“The approach is like a three-legged stool,” Beeson said. “You have what they tell you, lab tests and the physical exams, and oftentimes I find that physical exams can change the trajectory of what treatment options I recommend for a patient.”
Treatment across the spectrum of care
YNC, for many of its patients, functions as a primary care provider. But the conditions it treats extend well beyond the common cold. Long-term conditions such as heart disease, cancer and chronic pain can benefit from a naturopathic approach.
“We see patients from birth to 100 years old,” Beeson said. “We are like your family doctor.”
The investment that providers at YNC make in their patients, Beeson said, gives them a unique vantage point on the care.
“We treat generationally,” Beeson said. “We have a lot of parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids. Being a family practice gives us such unique context with people.”
Click here to learn more about Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic.
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