I am a daughter, sister, aunt, friend, life-long student, activist, colleague, and Naturopathic Doctor. I am a 1st-generation Canadian who grew up in a small town (Antigonish, Nova Scotia).
I know what it is like to be a patient. At age 10, I was diagnosed with lupus (an auto-immune disease). Around 10 years ago, following a stressful few years where my own self-care fell to the side, I had a flare-up of lupus. Both times, Naturopathic medicine helped me heal. I understand what it feels like to navigate the medical system and anxiously wait for a test result after my father’s diagnosis with cancer. I have been through the trauma of an emotionally abusive relationship… and the pain and transformation after a car accident. I know what it is like to be in a situation where you disconnect from yourself. I have been brought to my knees, lived through many “dark nights of the soul,” and have been taken to a place I had heard about in my patients’ stories and in my education. Life experiences have taught me how to allow myself to be open to receive help, after admitting to myself that I cannot do it on my own.
I have moved to cities where I knew no one, was fluent in Dutch when I lived in Amsterdam for a year (I was 5 years old), travelled by myself in Canada and Mexico, grown in love, acted on a stage (The Vagina Monologues), and taken a year sabbatical after 7 years of practice following my father’s passing – travelling through India for 6 months. There, I reconnected with my roots, volunteered, and continued learning about myself and nature cure .
I have come face to face with fear and vulnerability, and stepped across the safe boundaries of my comfort zone many many times… each time witnessing another facet of myself emerging, finding my voice, growing, healing, learning. Experience teaches lessons that cannot be read in a book.
Having experienced burn-out before, I try to practice what I suggest to my patients – to listen to my body, trust my body, and to allow myself the time and space to take care of myself first. Dancing, being in nature, my community, writing, music, travelling, healthy vegetarian cooking, meditation, yoga, photography, and painting is my medicine.
All of these experiences have brought me to where I am now. I share all of this to tell you – I understand… I know what it feels like to have your life affected by health challenges… I know what it feels like to be seen, heard, and to heal.
I have an eclectic family practice, with a focus on women’s health – helping women with reproductive and sexual health concerns, hormone balance, fertility concerns, pregnancy (from pre-conception to post-partum), menopausal support, low energy, and emotional health. Being on a personal journey of reconnecting to myself and my body, I hope to inspire and encourage women to deepen their self-awareness, nurture themselves, and reconnect with their body’s natural rhythms and feminine wisdom.
It is an honour to support my patients’ transformation on their healing journey as they make positive healthy changes in their life, and reconnect with who they are – in mind, body, and spirit.
With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing.
~ Catherine de Hueck Doherty
Education:
1996 – Bachelors of Science (Honours Biology) – St Francis Xavier University
2000 – Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine – Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (www.ccnm.edu)
2008 – Professional training in the Arvigo techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (www.arvigotherapy.com)
Professional Member of:
Nova Scotia Association of Naturopathic Doctors (www.nsand.ca)
Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (www.cand.ca)
College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta (www.cnda.net)