Your First Naturopathic Doctor Visit: Complete Guide for 2025
You've been dismissed by doctors who barely looked up from their charts. You've been told your symptoms are "just stress" or "normal aging." But you know something deeper is going on with your health, and you're ready for answers.
It's 2025, and 15-minute doctor visits are no longer effective for anyone. You deserve healthcare that truly listens, takes you seriously, and helps you understand what's actually happening in your body. You're considering taking the leap to see a naturopathic doctor, but you're unsure where to begin, if it's the right fit, or what to expect.
All of these questions are incredibly valid and reasonable. The goal of this post is to answer them so you might feel more confident in taking the next step toward your healthiest, happiest life.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What Makes Naturopathic Medicine Different
Before Your Visit: How to Prepare for Naturopathic Care
The Initial Visit: Comprehensive Health History and Physical Exam
Naturopathic Assessment and Treatment Planning
After Your First Visit: What Happens Next
How to work with Dr. SG Gettman, ND
What Makes Naturopathic Medicine Different
Before we dive into what to expect, let's explore why this approach feels so transformative compared to conventional medicine.
Time and Attention You Deserve:
Instead of rushing through a 15-minute visit, you’ll have 60- 90 minutes of uninterrupted time to share your entire unique health story. You can ask all your questions without being rushed or dismissed.
Holistic Health Assessment:
As naturopathic doctors, we understand that physical symptoms are deeply connected with mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and lifestyle factors, and as such, we work to understand all of the dynamics at play. When I ask about your sleep, I don’t just ask whether you sleep well, but also how many hours you sleep, whether you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, the room temperature, the quality, and how you feel upon waking. Understanding you as a whole person, rather than just your physical symptoms, makes it easier for us to make meaningful changes.
Root-Cause Focused:
There’s that old adage: “When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Conventional medicine excels at life-saving care, surgery, treatment of broken bones, and medication. However, it often struggles with chronic conditions because it often overlooks the simpler and equally effective tools like diet and lifestyle modifications in lieu of a prescription band-aid.
Naturopathic medicine addresses the root of the issue and treats it from that perspective. This means understanding triggers, patterns, and underlying imbalances, not just to treat symptoms, but to predict and prevent future flares.
Personalized Treatment That Fits Your Life:
Two people may have the same condition with the same features, triggers, and laboratory results, but they may have completely different treatment plans because what works for one person may not work for another. The best treatment plan is no use if it’s not feasible in your life. We consider your preferences, available time, financial resources, home life, and simpler things like whether you prefer liquid or pill forms, and any other factors that matter to your success!
Now that you understand why this approach feels so different, let's walk through exactly what to expect.
Before Your Visit: How to Prepare for Naturopathic Care
Complete Your Comprehensive Intake Forms:
Before your visit, you’ll receive detailed forms that go far beyond typical medical paperwork. Naturopathic doctors are very thorough, and as a result, these forms can often be lengthy.
The intake forms will ask a variety of questions, including:
Personal and family health history
Current medications and supplements
Medical records release forms
Insurance information and financial policies
Consent, HIPAA, and privacy forms
Gather Your Medical Records:
Prior to the visit, gather and send a copy ahead (if possible):
Recent lab or imaging results (ideally from the past year)
Medical records, including hospital discharge papers, specialist reports, and any previous results
Symptom journals, tracking data from wearables, or notes about your health concerns
Prepare Your Health Story:
To make the best use of your time, consider writing:
A timeline of your health concerns
Your goals for treatment
Questions you'd like to ask
Factors that make your symptoms better or worse
Day-of Practical Considerations:
The practicalities of a visit with a naturopathic doctor are similar to a conventional doctor. I often encourage patients to:
Dress comfortably
Eat normal meals and stay appropriately hydrated
Clear your schedule, as visits are often 90 or more minutes in length
Bring a notebook to take notes
Arrive ready to be heard!
The Initial Naturopathic Visit: Comprehensive Health History and Physical Exam
Your comprehensive initial visit has three main components, each designed to understand you as a whole person.
Part 1: Your Complete Health Journey:
You deserve to tell your story in full, and we're here to listen to every detail. No detail is too small, no symptom insignificant.
Start from the beginning: life before your symptoms began, the timeline of changes, how they impact your daily activities, specific triggers you've noticed, and any treatments you've tried.
Most importantly, share your goals! Whether you want to run a marathon, have energy for your kids, or simply feel like yourself again, we want to know everything so we can tailor your treatment plan to help you achieve what matters most.
Part 2: Detailed Lifestyle and History Assessment:
Understanding your entire history, including your daily activities, is vital in helping us determine the root cause of your concerns.
In this section, we’ll ask about:
Nutrition: Food and beverage intake, eating patterns, digestive health, stool patterns
Sleep: Patterns, quality, duration, and how you feel upon waking
Energy and stress: Daily rhythms, emotional and mental health, coping strategies
Quality of Life: Work, relationships, personal fulfillment, pain levels
Personal history: Childhood development, past surgeries, family medical history
Environmental factors: Home, work, and lifestyle exposures
Head to Toe: Questions about every organ system from head to toe
Part 3: Physical Examination (In-Person Visits):
If your visit with a naturopath is in person, you'll receive a thorough physical exam including:
Your naturopathic doctor will:
Vital signs, including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, height, and weight
Look in your ears, eyes, nose, and mouth
Listen to your heart, lungs, and abdomen
Palpation of your head, sinuses, lymph nodes, thyroid, and abdomen
Musculoskeletal tests, such as range of motion, as necessary
Naturopathic Assessment and Treatment Planning
Following your comprehensive visit, I take time to carefully review your full medical history, previous laboratory results, and all completed assessments. My goal is to create a plan that is both comprehensive and practical for your real life. You can expect recommendations that align with your goals and values.
In most cases, additional testing may be necessary. This can include:
Blood work via LabCorp or Quest
Specialized hormone testing through saliva, urine, or blood
Food sensitivity testing to identify trigger foods
Gut health analysis via comprehensive stool testing or breath tests
Infectious disease testing for Lyme disease or co-infections
Imaging when necessary:
Your provider will discuss any needed X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, or MRIs and explain their necessity for your specific case.
After all labs and imaging have been completed, your provider will schedule a lab review visit to go over your results and present a treatment plan.
After Your First Visit: What Happens Next
In your lab review visit, your naturopathic doctor will discuss:
Review the findings of your labs and imaging comprehensively
Initial priorities for stabilization of your health
Recommendations for diet and lifestyle changes
Recommendations of targeted supplements and medications as necessary
Timeline, expectations, and when to schedule a follow-up appointment
And answer any questions you may have.
Ongoing Support and Resources:
Following your visit, you’ll receive:
Digital access to copies of your labs and imaging in your patient portal
A comprehensive, written treatment plan
Instructions for ordering supplements through Fullscript
Educational handouts on how to implement the diet and lifestyle changes
Symptom tracking tools and health journals
Clear communication preferences for how to get additional questions or support between visits.
Follow-Up Care
Depending on your needs, follow-up visits are typically scheduled every 4-6 weeks to monitor and celebrate your progress and adjust your plan as needed.
Naturopathic Medicine with Dr. SG Gettman, ND at Summer Sun Integrative
Choosing the right naturopathic doctor is important. I aim to make your first visit a welcoming, thorough, and empowering experience. Here’s what you can expect:
Virtual and In-Person Options: Telemedicine for Arizona, DC, and Vermont residents, plus in-person availability in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Trauma-Informed, Queer-Affirming Care: I’m committed to making sure you feel safe, respected, and truly heard.
Whole-Person Focus: Your physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health are all honored here.
Accessible Support: Secure messaging between visits, flexible follow-up options, and collaborative planning.
Transparent Pricing: Cash-pay model with clear fees so there are no surprises.
This is healthcare designed to work with you.
Ready to experience healthcare that actually listens? Schedule a free 15-minute consultation today!
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Please note that this post is for informational purposes only, is not medical advice, and does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Please speak to your physician before implementing any changes related to your health.
