FAQ

What to expect:

Healing from the root cause is a process and partnership between patient and practitioner. Clients are closely listened to with compassion as well as experience. They are given much support along with a healing protocol that includes individualized lifestyle, dietary, and supplemental recommendations.  All protocols are individually specific and based on a complete and thorough personal health history and appropriate lab work.

We begin your healing process with an Initial Consultation. The main purpose of an initial consultation is to get to know you and to understand what you’d like to improve regarding your health. We’ll talk about your history, where you are right now, and your goals. My job is to listen and then together we build a solid plan to help you to achieve these goals.

Initial consultations take between 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours of face time with additional time to evaluate lab work and design a protocol specific to your needs. Total time spent on an initial consultation is approximately 2.5 hours.

Please see our plans to get started.

 

Frequently asked questions:

Q. What does A Living Balance (Cindy Dupuie) offer that other Functional Medicine Practitioners may not?

A. I have over 12 years experience in Functional Medicine and have seen and helped many clients with conditions that were not being improved with an alternative or mainstream doctor by applying the principles of Functional Medicine.

Also, I purposefully maintain a small practice to be able to continue to study and research staying informed of newest technology, testing and supplementation to better serve my clients.

Q. Do you specialize in specific conditions?

A. I help clients with diabetes, auto-immune disease, weight loss resistance, fatigue and low energy, hormone imbalances. I specialize in helping clients with digestive issues (this is my own weak spot), eczema, and couples ready to become parents-preconception care.

Q. Why is preconception care so important?

A. This is the heart area of my practice. It is my dream to help parents to raise children who are happy and healthy. I look at all of the children who have learning disabilities and behavior disorders, eczema, asthma, and autism, a number that has exploded in that last 20 years and I want to end it! And I think we can but it starts with mom and dad. That’s why preconception care is so important. We want to optimize nutrient status, minimize exposure to toxins and reduce the toxic load to help turn this trend around.

Q. If I live out of your area, will you still be able to meet with me and help me?

A. Yes! I see clients virtually as well as in person at my Irvine office in CA. We meet either by phone, Zoom or via our telehealth platform. All chats, protocols, notes, labs are kept in your secure client portal for easy access and communication at any time.

Q. Do I need to maintain a relationship with my doctor if I’m working with you?

A. Yes, it’s recommended that you still check in with your GP or specialist while working with me. I am a nutritionist and not a doctor therefore, cannot and do not take the place of your doctor. I provide adjunct care for those who already have a primary care provider.

Q. How long does it take and how much should I expect to spend to see significant improvement from my chronic condition or disease?

A. It depends… (you already knew that, right?) It really does. Having said that, we usually see significant improvement within the first few months for most conditions. The cost can vary from $350-$2000, depending on the condition, symptoms, severity, level of supplementation and testing needed. The average cost for the 1st three months of treatment is $1000 which includes my fees, testing and supplementation. Again it can be less. I try to always be sensitive to my client’s finances when making recommendations.

Q. I like my doctor but think I need a little more help. Can you help me if I’d like to continue to work closely with my doctor.

A. One of the best roles I play is being your advocate. I’ve found that working in conjunction with your doctor is very effective and helpful to my clients.  Reviewing your doctor’s recommendations, lab work and often making suggestions for additional lab work and perhaps supplementation, as well as other forms of therapeutic interventions and testing is most often a win win.

Q. Can I apply the fees for your services towards my medical insurance deductible?

A. As a nutritionist, the fees for my services cannot be put towards your deductible. But you may use your HSA or FSA accounts.

Q. Are Functional Medicine tests paid by insurance?

A. Often testing is all or partially covered by insurance if using PPO coverage. The decision to perform functional testing is yours. I try to explain very clearly why I’m making a recommendation for a test as a diagnostic tool.

Q. Why choose me or any functional medicine practitioner over a western medicine doctor who is specialist, such as a gastroenterologist or endocrinologist to help me with my chronic disease?

A. Our body parts and systems do not operate separately from each other and specialists tend to treat the symptoms and not look at the underlying cause and so often end up being short-sighted and only able to offer limited solutions.

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