Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Lauren Hacker.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Many women feel dismissed when they try to bring up health concerns. My unique healing path, using Naturopathic Medicine, teaches women to listen to their bodies and own their health so that they can feel empowered in their lives. My vision to deliver better healthcare for women that allows them to feel heard and partnered with in their care began while experiencing my own challenges around feeling heard and cared for in the health system.
Over ten years ago, I was studying to be a teacher, but was distracted by how sick I felt all the time. I was nauseous and bloated, I was gaining weight, and I felt like I couldn’t eat any food without having heartburn. I also felt depressed. I heard over and over again that my symptoms were all in my head. I went to a number of doctors, eventually had an endoscopy – a stomach scope – and was told I was fine, aside from some inflammation that I would need to take 10 pills daily to relieve my symptoms. I took the pills, but nothing helped, so I stopped and resigned to live with my pain.
I eventually met a Naturopathic Doctor who helped me learn about food sensitivities and natural, whole-person approaches to health, and it changed my life to the point that I decided to become a Naturopathic Doctor myself. My stomach healed, my pain reduced, my depression cleared, and the weight came off.
But, even while in school to learn medicine, I still had to advocate for my health, especially when it came to hormone imbalances and women’s health, and found that most women around me struggled the same way – often having their concerns written off.
I decided to specialize in fertility, which often means improving women’s health on the whole – creating healthier lifestyles, balancing hormones, and resolving digestive disorders. I help women reclaim knowledge of their bodies, find the root cause, and heal, so that ultimately, if they want to, they have the optimal health to conceive naturally and have a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Today, I am a registered Naturopathic Doctor practicing in the Denver Tech Center, who marries the art and science of medicine, mixing traditional healing with modern science, to change women’s lives. And I still get to be a teacher — one of our main principles is the idea that your doctor should also be teaching you about your body and health so that you can learn to advocate for yourself as well.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been the smoothest road, because I had to learn to be both a solo business owner and a solo doctor in my practice, and all during the pandemic. But, I have had a great support community that made all the difference.
I went to Bastyr University, a 4-year accredited university, that had rigorous training in naturopathic medicine, with lots of stress and challenges. When I graduated, I thought – man! I am glad that is over!… about 1 year before COVID and the pandemic started.
So, my first year of fully solo practice was the first year of the pandemic.
It was a challenging time for everyone, but it was quite the experience to try to figure out how to practice medicine, care for people, sort through the news and data, and all in a more immediate way because everything felt urgent then. I hold admiration for those who worked in hospitals and other medical centers and had to navigate it on a much greater scale.
It’s been both exhausting and rewarding in so many ways. I’ve grown and changed so much as a doctor and a person, both from school and from having to learn to navigate the world the past two years in a pandemic and what that means as a care provider as well.
I think the constant guiding light has been that I feel I am truly lucky to be practicing Naturopathic Medicine and working with patients in the way that I do.
Another big blessing has been the support community of other NDs and holistic practitioners in Denver, and the support of my friends and family, without whom I wouldn’t be where I am now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Lauren Hacker ND, LLC, is a Naturopathic Medical clinic that teaches women to own their care so that they can embrace their life. I strive to partner with women to resolve their hormone imbalances and digestive disorders, to optimize fertility and create health in pregnancy and beyond, and to empower and educate my patients so that they can become their own advocates and achieve their health goals for the rest of their lives.
Naturopathic Medicine is a practice of natural medicine and integrative care that is the original patient-centered care model. We are trained to combine the art and science of medicine and teach our patients to create lasting health and change the course of their lives.
I specialize in fertility and women’s health as well as digestive disorders because we believe that good health starts with a healthy gut.
What sets me apart is that I truly listen and work as a team with my patients to figure out the root cause and resolve their health concerns. I am like the nerdy science friend who is also excited about helping you feel better. I feel that your voice matters in your care. We work together to create an individualized plan that fits you, and then continue to modify it to get optimal results based on your needs.
This also means that we have longer appointments (30-60 minutes), spend more time talking about you than you may ever have with any other healthcare provider, and we meet more regularly at first so that we can adjust your individualized plan based on the feedback your body is giving us. This allows us to reach effective and lasting results sooner.
I am a people-person, so I invite anyone who wants to learn more to either check out my website and the FAQs section or schedule a free 15-minute discovery call with me to chat more about how we can work together.
I’m also finalizing and launching a Fertility Foundations course in the fall that helps busy women sort through all the information out there and optimize their health so that they can conceive naturally, so I’m very excited about that. This course takes all of my expertise in fertility and breaks it into manageable, accomplishable modules so that patients can improve their health, and therefore, fertility in order to optimize the chances of natural conception and a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If someone is just starting out and they are a high schooler or undergraduate student thinking about Naturopathic Medicine, I would recommend that they get connected with some doctors or look at the Integrative Health Practices program at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where I am also adjunct faculty. I think there’s a lot of great avenues available and the more community support you can have and the more background going into school is helpful. If someone is just starting out as a Naturopathic Doctor, I think connecting with other doctors and holistic healthcare providers is huge — there’s so many resources and ways of thinking, and sometimes just having another person to share questions and ideas with can be helpful.
I always invite people to reach out if they have questions or want to chat about Naturopathic Medicine or owning a practice because I just think life is better when we don’t have to go it alone. I truly mean it too — if someone reading this has questions, reach out!
Contact Info:
- Email: info@drlaurenhacker.com
- Website: drlaurenhacker.com
- Instagram: @drlaurenhacker
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/drlaurenhacker
Image Credits
Lyndsey Leach
Adam Snyder
Monica Allen
