Frequently Asked Questions

Any person with a chronic or acute issue can be seen by a Naturopathic Doctor. Some reasons people chose to see an ND are that they prefer a natural health and wellness approach, are seeking an alternative to drugs or surgery, and/or are looking for a second opinion.   Naturopathic Doctors seek to restore and maintain optimum health in their patients by emphasizing nature’s inherent self-healing processes via a combination of conventional and holistic fields of medicine, which in turn leads to an integrative and individualized therapeutic approach.

Naturopathic Medicine is a system of health care that focuses on the use of natural therapeutics to promote health and address the root causes of illness and imbalance rather than covering up symptoms. This distinctive field of medicine has a primary focus on the prevention of chronic disease, to allow the healing power of nature transform the body and mind towards greater health and vitality.

Dr. Galina holds an ND license in California and may conduct full-scope tele-health visits for patients residing within the state of California, or those who have proof of residence within the State. She is able to diagnose, consult, and treat over email, phone, video and other communications technologies for these California-based patients.

Dr. Galina also practices out of the state of Illinois, which is a pre-licensed state. That means that her scope of practice is more limited than in a licensed state. In Illinois, and other pre-licensed states, she can work as a Naturopathic Consultant, which applies to tele-health as well.

Naturopathy is a non-invasive field of medicine and the modalities used are non-toxic and typically have few to no side effects. Dr. Galina received extensive training in herb-drug interactions and your recommendations will take into account all the possible safety precautions.

Dr. Galina will listen to your primary concerns and will then take a thorough history, making sure to discuss every aspect of your case. Additionally she will review any labs or imaging that you may have. Once she gets a clear picture of what is going on, Dr. Galina will either ask you to do additional lab testing or if she has all the needed information, will come up with a plan for you to follow, which may consist of supplement recommendations, dietary suggestions, lifestyle modification, and other functional medicine tools. The initial visits lasts 60minutes.

Follow-up appointments can range between 15 to 60 minutes. The purpose of the first follow-up visit, which will last 45-60 minutes, is to get an update on the state of your health after the initial visit and ensure that your chief concerns are improving or see if any changes to your plan need to be made. Seeing an ND is a commitment and healing won’t happen overnight, so together we decide how often you need to come in to ensure the best possible outcome. Depending on the severity of the problems, follow up appointments can range from once every few weeks to once every few month and last between 15 to 30 minutes. Eventually you may schedule as needed for regular check-ups or to address new health concerns.

Some NDs in licensed state choose to accept insurance but those are far and few in between because insurance rarely covers the Naturopathic services. However, we can give you a superbill (receipt of services) that you can submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement.

Insurance may cover your blood work through Quest Diagnostics, however it will depend on your insurance and you must check with them before going in for a test. Specialty tests may be partially covered or reimbursed by insurance, but that again depends on your insurance benefits and what state you reside in. 

Dr. Galina will not be responsible for any out of pocket costs incurred. 

Dr. Galina holds an ND license in California and may conduct full-scope tele-health visits for patients residing within the state of California, or those who have proof of residence within the State. She is able to diagnose, consult, and treat over email, phone, video and other communications technologies for these California-based patients.

Dr. Galina also practices out of the state of Illinois, which is a pre-licensed state. That means that her scope of practice is more limited than in a licensed state. In Illinois, and other pre-licensed states, she can work as a Naturopathic Consultant, which applies to tele-health as well. Although this provides some challenges it is not extremely different from full scope Naturopathic care, with the exception of not being able to officially diagnose or order certain testing, as well as prescribe. She can however provide you with comprehensive naturopathic care as permitted within the scope of a Naturopathic Consultant. 

Dr. Galina CANNOT conduct practice in any of the following states as they are licensed for NDs and have specific regulations that require a practitioner to be licensed in that state: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, US Territory: Puerto Rico, US Territory: U.S. Virgin Islands.