For those who have been plagued by a chronic illness or disease—Lyme disease, irritable bowel syndrome, stiff joints and even cancer—trips to numerous doctors and specialists can wear down the body and mind. Between hours at the office, heavy prescription doses and unanswered questions as to why the body is betraying its owner, it’s unsurprising why so many patients have grown weary of the traditional medical treatments and instead are relying more on the use of holistic treatment.
The Well of Life Center, founded by Cynthia Hofmann more than six years ago, is one such destination for an alternative method to combating illness. After her own near-death trial with cancer and ulcerative colitis, Hofmann abandoned the allopathic community—or mainstream medicine—and was driven to allow her body to heal itself through holistic practices. This experience inspired her to found the Well of Life Center in 2006.
Established around the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself, this holistic health care facility (with offices in Doylestown and Ottsville) identifies the underlying causes of physical problems and why the body responds in certain ways to these problems, and then allows the body to make natural adjustments to restore harmony among the body’s many systems. “They coexist,” explains Hofmann. “There is a support system that is in place. It is never just about the heart, it is never just about the colon, and it is never just about the liver.”
Using its “pillars”—nutrition, chiropractic care, cooking, massage therapy and physical fitness—the Well of Life Center customizes each client’s care plan to fit one’s individual needs, according to Tiffany Guerreiro, a clinician at the Well of Life Center. “Your symptoms could be the result of an organ or system in distress,” she says. “That area of stress might be a result of another system or organ in the body, and by supporting these organs we get to the root of the problem—the why.”
This process is also known as nutritional response testing—“the study of how your body’s own neurological reflex points relate to the state of health and the flow of energy in each and every organ and function of the body,” in the Well of Life lexicon. In order to identify the source of the ailments, clinicians will contact certain reflex points, each representing a specific organ, system or function, and from there determine which systems are distressed and which of the distressed is most important.
Instead of using medication to mask or treat the symptoms, the Well of Life Center uses whole-food nutritional supplementation as a solution to assist in healing. “We also teach you how to eat, removing foods and adding others as opposed to just eliminating things,” Guerreiro says. “We get the body to be properly regulated so the nervous system knows how to work.”
And, with the increasing popularity of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free lifestyles, more people are becoming cautious as to what they put in their body and how it can affect them. Guerreiro agrees, adding, “Our culture is waking up to the fact that we need to understand where our food comes from and finally the media is telling us to be careful of what we are putting in our bodies; people are catching on to the idea that we are what we eat.” By using nutrition as the backbone for physical wellness, people can experience changes not only in the way their body looks but also the way it feels and functions.
The programs aren’t limited solely to adults; the Well of Life Center is delighted to work with everyone, from babies with symptoms of acid reflux and worn-out parents to over-medicated senior citizens and even cancer patients. “So many people come in from so many different walks of life,” Guerreiro says. Because of the expansive range of clients, the five-pillar structure is able to flourish, working effectively in individual ways for each client, raising awareness about the positive effects of this lifestyle.
However, advocates of a holistic lifestyle are aware of the skepticism some people might have about this type of care. In fact, Guerreiro used to be a skeptic herself. After struggling in her mid- to late teens with a variety of medical conditions that were prohibiting her from living a fulfilled life—IBS, chronic hand pain, diagnosed infertility and the inability to focus, among them—Tiffany’s mother encouraged her to try this alternative care. Frustrated with her health and having major reservations about the effectiveness of holistic medicine, Guerreiro decided to learn more by taking one of the center’s cooking classes.
“I was very closed-minded in what I thought was going to be the answer,” she says. “I was coming to the Well of Life Center to prove that it wouldn’t work and wouldn’t be successful. I was obviously proven wrong. … When I went to the center I talked to so many people, and every person left the Well feeling better. I wanted that opportunity, too. My healing was so dramatic in the first three months. A lot of my symptoms left and it was amazing to see the changes in my body.”
Because traditional medicine has been so widely accepted for so long, many people struggle to let go of those ideas and open up to a new type of healing. However, by having an open mind, many people are pleasantly surprised at the healing their bodies experience. “If you’ve tried everything else, how is this going to hurt the process of you becoming empowered to make a better decision?” Hofmann asks. “You owe it to yourself to step outside your comfort zone and find a modality of healing that works for you.”
With the center’s family-like setting, there is a sense of comfort and community among clients. Instead of referring to individual diagnoses (as they would in the allopathic field), clients are able to relate to one another with shared stories of recovery, regardless of their particular condition. “It’s a change in dialogue that creates a unity,” says Hofmann. “They feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.”
After the initial three to six months of treatment, the hope is that patients can maintain the adapted lifestyle on their own with just a few natural supplements. Although it’s a “once a client, always a client” approach, the center also offers continued support for clients for as long as they choose, providing weekly live and online lectures and even cookbooks to help them maintain this lifestyle on their own. The Well of Life Center’s clinicians also travel to local schools to educate younger generations about the benefits of holistic medicine.
And as long as people continue to be open to a holistic lifestyle and the benefits it can provide, there will likely be slow but steady shift toward this approach to medicine. With the results experienced by the likes of Cynthia Hofmann and Tiffany Guerreiro, it’s hard to argue against it.
Well of Life Center
www.welloflifecenter.com
Two Area Locations:
201 Farm Lane, Doylestown
215-340-3930
8340 Easton Road, Ottsville
610-847-1941
The Well of Life Center is accepting new clients at both locations and welcomes new clients to make contact today and find out how its unique approach to healing can help.
