HEAL: Health Essentials for Abundant Living

"The first wealth is health"    ​–Ralph Waldo Emerson


An immersive intimate Integrative/Functional Medicine group retreat program for those who value community

Jumpstart or reset your healing journey
lead by Dr. Nathalie Bera-Miller, MD

Stay tuned: January 25 or February 1, 2025 in beautiful San Ramon Valley

8 new patients maximum - RSVP early - first come first serve

Looking to reverse/improve chronic medical conditions this year? I have had the honor over many years of guiding and witnessing in my patients wonderful outcomes, including improvement/elimination of:

  • Fatigue - having more energy for what they want to do in life

  • Long-standing digestive symptoms

  • Excess weight that resisted coming off before working with us

  • Diabetes and hypertension

  • Autoimmune disease

  • Osteopenia and osteoporosis

  • Chronic pain

  • Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and brain fog

  • We also know from programs like the Ornish Lifestyle Medicine program that coronary artery disease can be reversed with a rigorous lifestyle medicine program

Part 1:

  • Welcome/ Dr. Bera-Miller’s journey inspiring HEAL

  • Overview of Integrative & Functional Medicine (including how it differs from and complements conventional medicine and lifestyle medicine)

  • The 8 Root Causes of Inflammation (Nervous system, Gut, Immune, Structural, Hormones, Vasculature/Drainage, Toxicity/Detoxification, Mitochondria)

  • Lab testing options for further evaluation and clarification of root causes

  • Uncovering your own health trajectory and root causes of inflammation

Part 2:

  • Takeaways from Part 1

  • Core pillars necessary for healing and health maintenance

  • Energy as a key element in healing and health

  • Optimizing success: behavior change with self- and health- coaching

  • Bringing it all together and next steps

*Includes a lunch break between Part 1 and 2 and breaks for mindful movement

Inspired by several effective group medical programs – Dr. Dean Ornish’s Lifestyle Medicine Program for Reversing Heart Disease; Dr. Terry Wahls’ protocol for reversing autoimmunity; the Cleveland Clinic’s Fit for Life Program (developed by leaders at the Institute for Functional Medicine) – I've created HEAL to support San Francisco Bay Area residents with a holistic root-cause approach to reversing chronic inflammatory medical conditions while harnessing the powerful healing effect of community

HEAL was created for you to understand or understand more deeply about Integrative/Functional Medicine, experience ah-ha moments about your own health trajectory and journey, and feel again empowerment and hope in order to heal and blossom. During the retreat you’ll get an easy to understand framework, root cause evaluation, and simple yet impactful and individualized steps and strategies to recover from health challenges and enjoy life more.

Research has shown that being in a group positively affects your healing and health. Isolation has been found in some studies to be as powerful a risk factor to health as smoking. Group learning and interaction have the opposite effect, having been shown to powerfully support immune, hormonal, and overall health. And it’s fun too :)

Group immersive medical programs are more cost-effective versus only one-on-one physician/ health visits. And all participants will receive receipts from each day with appropriate ICD10 and service codes for the Group Medical Visit (GMV) physician sessions. So if you wish to, you'll be able to submit these itemized medical receipts to your (non-Kaiser/non-MediCare) health insurance carrier or to your HSA to request reimbursement.

Testimony from some of our HEAL 2023 participants

Dr Bera-Miller clearly put a lot of thought and time into planning the program components and then implementing them. She is the kind of doctor most of us seek: kind, knowledgeable, skilled, compassionate, good-hearted, and clearly so committed to supporting her patients in their healing journeys. She made sure the group meetings were a "safe space" for us, which led to a depth of sharing and groups support that contributed to our individual healing. She accommodated my complex medical conditions and sensitivities. And she was very generous with her time.  Dr Bera-Miller was very thorough in sharing her abundant expertise, including answering all our questions that arose. Her commitment to giving us a solid foundation in our understanding of functional medicine enabled us to take responsibility for our healing, with her dedicated support. Shauna also went out of her way to be supportive of us, and did all she could to help us with the inevitable difficulties.” -Anonymous

“I’ll admit I was a little skeptical on if the buddy system would be very effective, but it was really helpful. I’m so glad we had that, and my buddy and I met several times over the course of the sessions, and I hope we will continue to do so in the future. The sessions were all useful and I got a lot out of them all. I gained a lot more awareness of the systems that affect everything including mood, stress, gut health, etc., which has helped for lessening of symptoms like stress, gut issues, etc. Also I have been eating much better - not even so much of a major change in types of foods eaten (aside from sensitivities discovered by test results) - since we have been eating pretty healthy at home anyway, including mostly organic, plant-based, etc., but more of a healthy schedule - consistently eating 3 meals a day vs. closer to 1.5 to 2 before - eating relatively normal portion sizes vs. often smaller portions, and gaining some weight, as recommended. While I have [mostly] consistently meditated prior, doing so now more often during the day, instead of just in evening which has been helpful.” -EC, Pleasanton, CA

 

If you are ready to RSVP or have further general questions, please contact our HEAL / New Patient Coordinator Shauna at info@pacificfunctionalmedicine.com or #925-658-0661. Kindly leave your name, email address, and phone number so she can get back to you with more details!

HEAL: Health Essentials for Abundant Living
Group Medical Visit (GMV) Retreat

Stay tuned: January 25 or February 1, 2025 in beautiful San Ramon Valley
8 patients maximum - RSVP early - first come first serve*

 

Format

The HEAL Retreat is an intimate immersive jumpstart weekend where new patients are introduced to the key Integrative/Functional Medicine concepts and how to apply these to themselves. Together with Dr. Bera-Miller’s guidance you will come away with a personalized assessment of the root-cause(s) of your inflammatory medical conditions as well as a “recommendations roadmap” that includes any lab testing advisement. After the retreat, patients are then seen one-on-one for follow up with Dr. Bera-Miller. She also has other trusted colleagues she refers to for additional support as needed (e.g. health coaches, nutritionists, integrative therapists, exercise physiologist/coaches).

The Integrative/Functional Medicine approach reduces chronic inflammation by identifying root causes and addressing them in a personalized holistic way.  I’ve been thrilled to find answers to my own health challenges using this wonderful comprehensive approach. Along my life journey - including five consecutive years of caregiving for and losing my father (heart disease), husband (cancer), and mother (Alzheimer’s Disease) while continuing to work and raise my two children - I’ve also gained hard-earned transformative wisdom about balancing a productive meaningful life including caring for others while prioritizing caring for oneself. I’m looking forward to sharing with the HEAL retreat group the framework of Integrative/Functional Medicine and key healing and health principles that are evidence-based and work so well. I myself follow this approach to help me enjoy health, recover quickly from setbacks, and maintain resilience and a vibrant full life filled with a balance of peace, love, meaning, fulfillment, and joy and fun too.

Objectives

This group program will help you experience empowerment in your healing journey through:

  • Deeper understanding of the factors that have driven and continue to drive inflammation in your body – until you take the necessary steps to shift that 

  • Deeper understanding of your baseline laboratory markers of inflammation and health

  • Key health biometrics/indicators to measure and monitor at home, as well as on specialized lab tests that can be ordered

  • Sustained motivation towards your health and life goals

  • Improved healthy lifestyle behaviors (sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, relationships/community)

  • Improved energy, mood, weight/body composition, digestion, pain, hormonal balance, and other inflammatory symptoms

  • Decreased inflammation as evidenced by improved laboratory markers

  • Support from a skilled experienced compassionate health coach so that you can effectively implement the “recommendations roadmap” you receive

  • Connection to a HEAL buddy so that you have community support in between follow up visits with Dr. Bera-Miller

Components

  • A relaxed but highly informative and enlightening retreat day (including gluten- and dairy-free lunch and beverages)

  • Comprehensive evaluation of your health including recommendations for further lab testing

  • Instructive and inspirational materials distributed during the retreat

  • Buddy: each participant is paired with a buddy for additional ongoing support and accountability on their healing journey

  • Additional physician, and as needed health coaching or other support, to be scheduled after the retreat for individual follow up

+ For this program lead by Dr. Bera-Miller, you will receive an itemized receipt with appropriate diagnostic and procedural codes so that if you wish to do so you can submit it to any non-MediCare/non-Kaiser medical insurance to request reimbursement.

Prerequisites

  • Ready and able to commit to your own health and an informative supportive process of diving deeper into your inflammation root causes and addressing them holistically and effectively with mindfulness and heart-centered intention and vision

  • Comfortable meeting in person. We will be meeting in person with breaks outdoors for fresh air and movement. Of course if any one has cold/flu symptoms or has been exposed to someone with such symptoms or a Covid diagnosis in the prior two weeks, we will need for them to participate remotely (we would set up a Zoom link if/as needed). NB: For any individual or group medical visits in our office, our office suite enjoys Bishop Ranch's hospital grade MERV-13 air filters. And whether at the office or offsite we use room air purifiers and require that participants self-screen for Covid symptoms before all in-person meetings and visits.

  • Able to attend each and every part of the day; there will be no reimbursement for any missed sessions though printed materials will be provided for any missed sessions due to an emergency. We need folks who are ready and committed to their own healing and health as well as to group consistency, synergy, and support. 

  • Have a personal device/monitor that measures your Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Examples include the Oura ring, VivoSmart4 wrist band by Garmin, HeartMath emwave2 device, or EliteHRV. This needs to be brought to the retreat.

Dates

  • Saturday @ 10am - 4pm - exact location in San Ramon Valley TBA

Fee

$795* (a full immersive day of Functional/Integrative Medicine orientation, evaluation, and recommendations for less than the cost of a two hour individual initial visit and participants also enjoy introduction to and connection with a community of other holistic-minded seekers of optimal health)

NB: an itemized receipt from the retreat day will be provided to each participant so that if they wish they can submit to to non-MediCare/non-Kaiser health insurance carrier and/or HSA to request some reimbursement

*Not included in price of the HEAL Retreat:  further laboratory tests (beyond any lab reports you provide before the retreat), home monitoring device(s), evidence-based supplements that may be recommended, individual visits (after the retreat) with Dr. Bera-Miller

 

Next Steps

If you are ready to RSVP or have further questions, please contact our HEAL / New Patient Coordinator Shauna at info@pacificfunctionalmedicine.com or call 925-658-0661. Kindly leave your name, email address, and phone number so she can get back to you with more details!