01 Jun Innisfil Naturopath sets down roots
ALCONA — A naturopathic practitioner who is committed to helping Innisfil residents achieve greater health through carefully considered lifestyle choices has opened up shop.
Michael Yarish opened The Lakeside Clinic at 958 Innisfil Beach Rd. on June 1. However, a grand opening is set for Saturday, July 9 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
“I’ve been seeing local patients, just one day a week since June 2009 at The Healing Sun and then I moved to Innisfil Chiropractic one day a week,” he says. “I’ve been building my client base and when this space came up for lease I couldn’t say no to it.”
Yarish operated a clinic in Toronto but the choice to come north was made easier since his wife, Melinda, is a supply teacher with a local school board.
“We like the area and enjoy being out of the city,” Yarish says.
The route to becoming a practitioner in his field is quite similar to what medical doctors undertake, Yarish says.
“I spent three years in pre-med at university followed by a four-year medical degree including a one year internship,” he says.
“In naturopathy, we want a picture of the whole person to come up with a good treatment plan and we want to get at the root cause of an illness and why the symptoms are occurring.”
The initial consultation can take up to 90 minutes.
“Our patient intake form is quite lengthy,” Yarish says. “We go through all the patient’s concerns, their life history and the medications they are on.”
Naturopaths don’t prescribe drugs and services are not covered under OHIP, but some extended health plans allocate funds.
The Lakeside Clinic offers a variety of therapies for pain management, diabetes, cancer, chronic illness, allergies and much more.
Adopting a “therapeutic lifestyle” is a central theme of any treatment program, Yarish says.
“As a profession, we would like to work with medical doctors in an integrated setting,” he adds.
“That would be of great benefit to all Canadians to help people get back to optimal health.”