Spring 2006: Vol 3, Number 2                                                       To view this magazine with full images, click here (PDF)

Alumni Spotlight: Laurie Steelsmith, ND, LAc

Big dreams, deep convictions and a disarming dash of chutzpah bring success to this popular physician/author

At first glance it would seem the icy fjords of Norway have little in common with the white and sunkissed beaches of Hawaii. But thanks to alumna Laurie Steelsmith, ND, LAc, there is a connection, and it serves as a continual reminder to Dr. Steelsmith that Destiny's path—while not always obvious—is nevertheless real.

Of course it helps that, when it comes to listening to Destiny's call, Steelsmith (née Steele) has a keen ear. And, in addition to listening to her intuition, she has a tenacious spirit, which fuels her remarkable ability to spy a prize and go for it with unshakable determination.

The 42-year-old author of Natural Choices for Women's Health grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where her childhood dreams "to help people in some way" crystallized into her life's purpose at the age of 16. "I went to Norway as an exchange student, and it completely turned my life around," she says. "I lived with a family who were the healthiest people I'd ever met. Together we foraged for mushrooms, picked berries for homemade jam and gathered linden blossoms for tea. We ran the path along a nearby reservoir, and we bicycled every day, rain or shine." Not only did the family's healthy lifestyle resonate with her, but Steelsmith soon found her chronic sinusitis clearing up and her energy soaring.

On her return from Norway, the teenager—determined now to indulge her newfound passion for natural health—secured a part-time job in a local health-food store. There she moved one step closer to the path that would lead her to a career in naturopathic medicine: she met a practicing naturopathic physician.

"When this ND, who'd written a book about food as medicine, came into the store, I peppered him with all sorts of questions," Steelsmith says. "His answers convinced me I had to pursue an education in some area of natural health and wellness." With the study of nutrition in mind, Steelsmith moved west to attend Evergreen State College in Olympia. There she discovered she had an affinity for chemistry and other science classes, and she soaked up knowledge about anatomy when she took a certificate program in massage therapy.

In the mid 1980s, during the school's Christmas break, she found herself (literally) on yet another path that would change her life. Steelsmith was taking her daily walk when a gentleman jogging along the same path stopped to ask her for directions. He was very polite and very handsome, and he was genuinely charming. In typical Steelsmith fashion, she set her eyes on the prize and went for it. Not only did she give the fellow, Alex Smith, directions to his asked-for destination, she also gave him directions to her mother's house, where she treated him to dinner that very night. That man is now her husband. Not only did they eventually exchange vows, but they exchanged names as well, when both took on the combined surname of "Steelsmith": Steele + Smith.

Bastyr bound
Back at Evergreen, Fate stepped in yet again to nudge Steelsmith another step closer to Bastyr. "Amazingly, my advisor at Evergreen was on Bastyr's board of trustees," says Steelsmith. "She encouraged me to check out the school and naturopathic medicine as a career." Steelsmith was further encouraged by her own physician—a Bastyr graduate—who gave her a school catalog. "I was so impressed and excited," she says, "I read it cover to cover. I knew this was the path for me. It was destiny."

Steelsmith entered Bastyr in 1987. There she finished her BS, completed the naturopathic program and added a master's in acupuncture as well. Her decision to add an MSA to her credentials came about thanks to her part-time job as a massage therapist, which helped pay for medical school. A fellow massage therapist also worked as an acupuncture instructor in Bastyr's newly launched acupuncture and Oriental medicine program. "She needed more students in her class," says Steelsmith, "so I joined Bastyr's very first class on acupuncture meridians and points. I loved it. I was hooked!"

Despite the challenge of studying two medical disciplines at once—"I once had 12 finals in one week; I still have nightmares about taking tests and not being prepared!"—Steelsmith found her experiences at Bastyr to be great training for her medical practice. "I learned discipline and how to deal with the constant pressure of maintaining a tight schedule. Thanks to the real-life lessons I learned at Bastyr, I'm now able to focus 100 percent on each patient."

Another lesson she learned at Bastyr was, as Steelsmith says, "to trust the medicine." When she developed debilitating pain in her hands, arms and eventually her feet, she discovered she had borderline lupus. "It hurt so much I couldn't even drive. It was a really scary time." With the support and insight of her Bastyr colleagues, and by using Chinese-and naturopathic-medicine therapies (i.e., detoxification, dietary changes, acupuncture), she was able to heal the condition. "This gave me so much confidence in our medicine. I'd been living with pain for over year," she says. "Yet, within a week after completing an elimination diet, my pain started going away."

By the time she graduated in 1993, Steelsmith had been at Bastyr for six years. During that time, the community had become her extended family. "It was really exciting and compelling to work with people who all shared the same passion," she says. And it was that passion that helped secure her an invitation to join a successful medical practice. That invitation, however, would never have been extended had Steelsmith not, once again, spied a prize and gone for the gold. This time, the gold was located in Hawaii.

"A classmate of mine had done a preceptorship in Hawaii with a naturopathic doctor there," says Steelsmith. "So when Alex and I had the chance to take advantage of a $100 ticket deal to Hawaii, I wrote to the physician, Dr. Jack Burke, and asked if I could meet with him while there. I was going to be graduating soon, and I was hoping he could use another naturopath in his clinic. Besides," Steelsmith adds with great understatement, " Hawaii seemed like a pretty nice place to be."

She and Dr. Burke met, he offered her a job, and in September 1993, the Steelsmiths found themselves leaving the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest for the tropical climes of Hawaii. "My husband is an artist, so he had no problem moving to a place that had plenty of scenery to paint."

For three years, Steelsmith worked with Burke. Then, in 1996, she opened her own office in Kahala, where she developed a thriving practice working with entire families but specializing in women's concerns. Through numerous public appearances, local media coverage and an ongoing health-advice column in the widely read Honolulu Advertiser, Steelsmith soon found herself named by The Honolulu Weekly as Hawaii's best alternative practitioner for women's health in Honolulu. To many, this would be accomplishment enough. But Steelsmith had yet another goal to reach and another path to walk: she wanted to write a book.

"One of the most fulfilling parts of my work is teaching patients how to get well by doing simple, simple things," says Steelsmith. "I wanted to write a book for women that would show how easy it is to improve one's health and wellness through surprisingly easy natural therapies and lifestyle changes." Because Steelsmith incorporates both Eastern and Western medical philosophies in her practice, she wanted to include information about Chinese medicine. "Natural medicine and Chinese medicine share the same focus—to create balance in the body. In both systems, every aspect of body/mind/spirit is taken into account before a diagnosis is made and treatment is started. I wanted to see a book on the shelves that incorporated these two medicines and that spoke the common language of women."

Using her husband Alex as the book's illustrator and co-author ("He's a literary genius!"), Steelsmith used the wealth of information she'd gathered through her practice, teaching and article-writing to compile her book. "I wanted it to be really consumer friendly," she says, "so I filled it with fun diagnostic quizzes and self-evaluations, practical tips, sidebar recipes for nutritious foods and herbal preparations, and so forth. Health is so much more than the absence of disease! I gave women every tool I could think of to help them understand their bodies better, prevent illness and create health in the easiest, most natural ways."

She named her book, Natural Choices for Women's Health: How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness. But before the book was published, she secured an enthusiastic endorsement from best-selling physician/author Christiane Northrup, MD. "I'd approached her only to ask for her approval on a reference I had made about her in the book," Steelsmith says. "But she liked what she saw, and she turned around and gave me an endorsement. She was very gracious."

When Steelsmith submitted her manuscript to a publisher, she hit the jackpot. Not only did major publisher Three Rivers Press (a division of Random House) pick it up, but very quickly the spring 2005 publication reached the number-one spot on Hawaii's non-fiction best-seller list. Now it can be found in every major bookstore across the country, international rights are being negotiated, and even Costco carries the book alongside other top-sellers.

Steelsmith's take on natural medicine has been featured in numerous magazines, including Self, Women's World, Better Nutrition and Fitness Magazine. She's been on over 70 radio programs and was featured on Gary Null's "Voice of America" show and on New York's public radio. Most impressive of all, this past January she appeared on CNN, as well as NBC and Fox television news affiliates.

Steelsmith, who this last fall purchased her own office in Waikiki, is thinking already about writing a second book. "I wish more people understood their personal role in controlling their own health and realized how profoundly natural medicine can impact their lives. I want to help more people become aware of how the choices they make every day shape the quality of their lives. Health is not something that happens to us. It's something we choose.

"You know," Steelsmith adds, speaking from experience, "we really do create our own destiny."

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