Trusted Counseling Professional in Florence, MA

I am Jeanette Walker, FNCS, owner of Walker’s Functional Nutrition. I am a mother of an adult son and live in Florence, Massachusetts, with my husband and dog. I am a certified Functional Nutrition Counselor. 
My passion for this type of counseling to help people suffering with chronic illness was realized by my introduction to The Functional Nutrition Alliance's Functional Nutrition Labs: Full Body Systems Immersion Program that I completed in December 2021. The School’s proprietor, Andrea Nakayama, is my absolute hero given her work in the Functional Medicine and Nutrition Field. Andrea is an internationally acclaimed leader in the field of Functional Nutrition, whose mission is to teach and help coaches, clinicians and health care practitioners across the globe to transform healthcare with Functional Nutrition.
Functional medicine rests on the believe that autoimmunity has three roots and many branches. Genes, digestion and inflammation are the roots, and the symptoms people experience are the many branches. The symptoms come from issues in the terrain in which the roots are growing.
My calling to work in the field of Functional Nutrition also has three roots. I lost both my parents to autoimmunity and chronic illness, I have also been working on healing my own digestive and mental health issues and managing my own autoimmune condition, and I don’t want others to suffer needlessly when there are steps that can be taken to regain health and feel better. 
I have extensive background as a skilled mental health counselor with a trauma-informed lens and have always placed high value on providing a person-centered approach to goal planning. I changed the trajectory of my work given the enormous need I see to help people struggling with chronic illness who are not getting better. People with autoimmunity issues, like myself, are an underserved population.
I am passionate about helping people using functional nutrition systems and frameworks towards resolving the root causes of any sign, symptom, or diagnosis. I focus primarily on diet and lifestyle modification, rather than psycho-pharmacological interventions and symptoms management that don't get to the root of what is ailing people.  
I am a creative, highly sensitive and empathetic person. My interests include functional medicine, arts and crafts, music, sewing, healing arts of all kinds including breathwork, cooking delicious and nutrient-dense meals, playing in the garden with my husband, growing our own food and herbs, making my own ferments, meditation, psychology/social psychology, photography, spirituality, and yoga. I’m also very interested in learning more about no till gardening, the lymphatic system, vagal theory and herbal medicine.