A Center for Healing and Lasting Change
as seen in Living magazine in March 2009
Imagine living pain free. Full of energy. Fit and flexible. Peaceful and playful. Healthy and happy. Is that hard to picture in the context of a 21st century life surrounded by chronic stress, illness, inflammation, pain, and information overload? Who would want to extend his or her lifetime if that just means more years of chronic pain, illness, and frustration?
You’re not alone. Most people today are bombarded with information about healthy living–they’re either paralyzed into indecision, confused by conflicting information, or simply overwhelmed into inaction. Attempts at small changes for living healthier yield mediocre results, so the effort quickly seems useless.
Now picture yourself surrounded by a team of experts who care about you and your health goals. Specialists who can cut through the data and provide a personalized diet, exercise, stress-reduction, and medical plan to improve your health quickly and effectively. Welcome to Balanced Health and Wellness.
Nurturing Facility and Staff
Directed by Dr. Mary Alavi, a board-certified family practice physician since 1987, Balanced Health and Wellness provides a nurturing, safe setting for patients who are ready to improve their entire quality of life so that an extended lifetime is something to look forward to.
“The entire staff at Balanced Health and Wellness makes you feel like you’ve come home,” said patient Paulette D. “Everyone is so welcoming and supportive, just calling them makes me feel more peaceful.”
Years ago, Dr. Alavi saw a need to educate and support her patients. She began focusing on preventative medical care—treating the causes of illness before they manifested instead of waiting for the patient to become acutely or chronically ill to handle the urgent symptoms. Dr. Alavi now balances her practice between preventative care and treating the chronically ill who want to reverse or slow the effects of their disease.
“I saw early on that the cost and effort of preventing chronic disease was cheaper and easier than fighting the full-blown disease years down the road,” said Dr. Alavi. “After years of handling acute care patients, I decided I wanted to focus on reversing the signs of, or path toward, premature aging and chronic preventable diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.”
And since our bodies are complex interrelated systems that are impacted by individual choices, histories, and metabolism, Dr. Alavi saw that each patient required specific and unique testing, education, and support.
Unique Support and Care for the Individual
Dr. Alavi began to picture her patients supported by a team including a nutritionist, fitness educator, life coach, nurse educator, and massage therapist. Each patient is given objective and specific medical tests that provide assessments that are comprehensive, yet individualized. The Balanced Health and Wellness’s Optimal Wellness Programs are the realization of many years of planning and dreaming about a system that would fully support motivated patients in achieving their own optimal wellness. Today, patients can apply to the program, which only accepts 25 patients at a time to ensure the most hands-on care possible.
This Optimal Wellness Program is unique in Houston in that it’s 6 to 12 months long with weekly support from the center’s staff. Each patient also meets with the physician a minimum of three times throughout his or her program time. Each program participant gets bonus benefits such as educational support, meetings with the staff aesthetician, and significant discounts on products they purchase.
Applicants are chosen based on their desire to improve their health, willingness to follow the program’s requirements, and why they say they’ll make a good participant. If participants follow the suggestions for his or her program with support from the center’s experienced staff members, they will see results and be able to maintain them.
“The ideal candidate for the Balanced Health and Wellness Optimal Wellness Programs are patients who have a commitment, who are consistent, and who make constant choices,” said Dr. Alavi. “And if someone has a willingness, but is unsure of their ability to commit—we’re also here to help.”
Real Change in the Real World
Since the program is an out-patient program, participants immediately interact with the “real world.” They must learn to adjust to the changes so they can build new habits in a real setting, making it easier for the long-term. Participants who relate to their health care providers and peers, repeat their new habits over a period of time, and reframe their choices into the new healthier lifestyle, with support from the center’s staff are the most successful.
“If I didn’t have the support of the staff, this program would have been a lot harder,” said program participant Dawn D. “My family didn’t like the changes I was making with all our food, but I knew that if I followed the program I wouldn’t have the constant stomach pains I’d been living with. The support I got helped me deal with the day-to-day roadblocks that might have stopped me from reaching my goals. I no longer have that constant stomach pain. And as a bonus I lost 20 pounds!”
Whole Mind-Body-Spirit Approach
“The medical profession has turned a blind eye for years at the studies that prove the connection between how a person thinks and feels and the state of their health,” said Dr. Alavi. “The proof is overwhelming. Traditional physicians are aware of the impact of stress on a patient, but unwilling, or unable, to address the connection with their symptoms. At Balanced Health and Wellness we include the mind, body, and spirit—addressing all the identifiable underlying causes of the illness for a complete, whole-person approach to to healing.”
The center’s environment supports patients in a full mind, body, and spirit approach. The experienced staff is friendly and supportive, gently guiding each patient to achieve his or her individual dreams. So, yes, even in the middle of a hectic 21stcentury-paced life, you can find your optimal wellness, peace, and your own sense of purpose. Every day more people are choosing high quality of life through wellness. When it’s your time, Balanced Health and Wellness is ready for you.
For further information or support please contact Balanced Health & Wellness during business hours at 281.855.2273