Get to know Erin -
Erin is a master’s prepared nurse, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Safe and Sound Protocol certified provider, trauma-informed healer, budding herbalist, mom of three young children and founder of Simas Family Health.
Read more about the mission and core values of Simas Family Health HERE.
How my approach has evolved
When I first started my practice I was very focused on metabolism. I still am to some degree, but in a lesser way than when I first began this journey. Having suffered from undiagnosable blood sugar dysfunction myself for most of my life (hello reactive hypoglycemia!) and histamine intolerance (including Mast Cell Activation Syndrome), I truly believed that healing one’s metabolism held the key to healing the entire body.
While I still believe the health of the metabolism is a crucial piece to the puzzle (and it’s something I still address right away in my practice), what I was largely missing in my initial approach was how intricately the nervous system can drive our metabolic health, as well as the rest of our health (digestive, detox/liver, emotional, immunity, etc.). This is even if we’re doing “all the right things” in these areas of our health, or our children’s health. Oftentimes if we do feel like we’re doing “all the right things” but still struggling, it’s the nervous system piece that we’re missing.
Our nervous system, for example, has infinite influence over our metabolism, regardless of the foods that we’re eating or how much we’re exercising (or not exercising). The same is true of all other aspects of our health.
Our nervous system is the X factor in every equation within our health, from our hormone balance to our gut microbiome to our nutrient stores to our ability to learn new things, be calm and connect with others. You cannot reach sustainable, long-term full-body health without addressing your nervous system.
Just to be clear, healing your nervous system is not just about learning how to meditate, breathe deeply or activate your vagus nerve! While all of these exercises are wonderful, they are also only part of the larger picture.
The origins of my current health beliefs and practices
Alongside my personal health journey, my children have truly been my greatest teachers when it comes to my evolving health beliefs. Despite being a classically trained nurse, when my daughter’s eczema popped up when she was 3 weeks old, then only got worse from there, there was something in me that said medication was not the way to go. Similarly, when my son started developing symptoms of PANDAS and ADHD at the age of 5, there was something in me that knew that there was more to the picture than the options I was being presented with.
It was healing my children naturally that catalyzed the forming of the health beliefs I currently hold, but it was the observing of these same challenges and cause and effect patterns within my clients throughout the years that really solidified the approaches I currently use in my practice and share on the Simas Family Health Podcast (coming soon!).
While peer-reviewed research can be wonderful (when it hasn’t been corrupted by ulterior motives), it’s really only a jumping off point. As a practitioner you really need to step outside of the research and look at the unique story of the human in front of you and everything that led him or her to you. There is so much power in listening to someone’s story when it comes to moving the needle in that person’s health.
Too often we separate the physical symptoms of health from the spiritual and innate needs we have as humans. When, in reality, our symptoms are the only way our bodies have to tell us that something is wrong; there are needs that are not being met. They cannot be addressed separately.
We see this term “root cause” thrown around a lot these days. The truth is, most practitioners are never truly getting to the deepest root cause - which is our nervous system patterning and what’s triggering this patterning. Once we understand how our bodies (and our children’s bodies) uniquely perceive the world and why, we can start to bring the nervous system back into balance while undoing the physical damage that’s been caused by its dysregulation up to this point.
Once the nervous system has been rewired, our hormones have been reset, and old patterns and self-sabotaging behavior have been brought into awareness - we can re-establish harmony within the nervous system and find our true healthy selves once again.
I am always here to walk the walk with you and cheer you on in this unconventional (yet ironically traditional) way of living and being in the world.
