Woodstock Natural Health Clinic

New Woodstock clinic opens, with goal of “lasting wellness”

By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF

for THE BEE

Over forty years ago, Petra Caruso was born at her parents’ home in Southeast Portland – just off Division Street, on S.E. 34^th Avenue. Attending the birth were a naturopath and his wife/midwife. Her older sister had been delivered four years earlier in the same house by the same doctor/midwife team.

After the family moved on to Redmond, Washington, Petra’s mother, a native of Switzerland, continued to follow a belief in natural health – and fed natural foods to her daughters and her German-born husband. She also tried to keep her daughters from eating sugar while they were growing up.

In those days Petra didn’t like being denied sweets. She secretly wondered what it was that made certain foods inferior, in her mother’s mind.

Today, after four years of immersing herself in naturopathic medicine and completely enjoying the scientific study of the body, nutrition and medicine, Dr. Petra Caruso knows what it was her mother objected to.

In July, she opened the Woodstock Natural Health Clinic, LLC, on Woodstock Boulevard at S.E. 50^th. This clinic, where Caruso will nurture her practice, is tucked into three small but pleasant rooms just east of the Woodstock Branch Library.

However, Caruso did not arrive easily at a career in naturopathic medicine. “I was the ultimate skeptic,” she recalls. “I initially rebelled and rejected my mother’s healthy ways of being, because I’m very scientifically minded. I am one of those people who really needs to know the science, and make a choice for myself.”

Caruso pursued a graduate degree in neuroscience, but eventually it was a path of personal distress that eventually led Caruso to naturopathic medicine. “I wasn’t content with my job. My marriage fell apart. I was out of synch with my inner self. I was experiencing emotional stress, and suffering from digestive, skin, and hormonal imbalance,” she reflects.

A move to Spain, where she found a job and stayed for several years, changed the course of her life. “I think people in Europe tend to live a more balanced life,” she observes. The holistic approach employed by naturopathic medicine – “treat the whole person: Body, mind, and spirit” – began to make a lot of sense to Caruso and, she says, restored her to emotional and physical health.

“Naturopaths will take into consideration a person’s life situation, emotional stresses, diet and medications. How these affect a person’s overall health can help determine root causes of symptoms, and therefore lead to a long-term cure and lasting prevention,” explains Caruso.

While in Barcelona, Caruso became acquainted with a woman who taught the use of the flower remedies developed by Dr. Edward Bach in the early 20^th Century. Much more common in Europe than in the U.S., these flower essences are starting to become better-known here for their healing capacities.

Caruso reports that naturopathic medicine is often sought when people become dissatisfied or frustrated with conventional medical remedies, or when they just want a more holistic perspective on their health or illness. “We look for a lasting cure, not just a quick fix or a band-aid that covers up a pathology,” says Caruso.

The lasting cure is brought about through a preventative approach. “We employ safe, gentle therapies that help the system maintain balance, thereby avoiding the development of many chronic diseases.”

On Fridays, from 11:30-1 pm, Dr. Caruso can be found at Limbo’s, next to Trader Joe’s on S.E. 39^th Avenue near Holgate, giving free blood pressure check-ups and offering general health, nutrition, and herbal information.

On Friday September 14^th, she will host a public open house at her new clinic on Woodstock Boulevard 3-7 pm.

Beginning this month, Dr. Caruso plans free one-hour health classes at her clinic on Saturday afternoons. You can learn more about naturopathic medicine at these talks. Topics for the fall include “Boosting Your Immune System for Winter”, “Making Sense of Your Lab Work Values”, and “Alternatives to High Cholesterol Statin Drugs”.