Dr. Katelyn Kalstein

I am a licensed Naturopathic Doctor and acupuncturist and soon-to-be licensed psychotherapist. I have worked in both conventional and integrative/functional medicine clinics throughout my career, specializing in integrative mental health, psychedelic medicine and an overall common sense approach to health and disease.  

 

Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, I was taught by my grandfather (the 13th child of 15) to use natural medicine - and avoid doctors - at an early age.  I always wanted to be a physician; I was pre-med at Pepperdine University, where I majored in Sports Medicine. Upon graduation I started working for four physicians in a busy private practice, and I was disheartened to learn that medicine as it was being practiced in the US was less about healing and more about profit, pills, and suppressing symptoms. I observed that patients weren't getting better, and in fact were worse year after year.

 

So, I abandoned my calling of becoming a physician and I moved to India, where I studied did yoga, studied Ayurveda and meditated all day. It was glorious. I met a spiritual teacher that helped me tremendously at the time; he taught an esoteric blend of Buddhism, shamanism and Hinduism. Over the next ten years I traveled regularly to India, Brazil and Peru to study a variety of indigenous healing practices with him, and became initiated into the Sacha Lineage (Rishikesh) and in the Santo Diame Church, which uses ayahuasca as a sacrament. During this initial three year period of traveling, I discovered that I really loved medicine and was called to practice in some form, and that's when I discovered Naturopathic Medicine. 

 

I moved to Seattle 2010 and received my doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and Master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Bastyr University in 2016. Bastyr University is an accredited institution that provides a 4-year program in Naturopathic Medicine - important to distinguish this from online "naturopathy" programs that are not accredited and do not result in any type of valid license.  

 

Immediately upon graduation, I began my career as the lead facilitator at 40 Years of Zen, Dave Asprey's (the father of biohacking, founder and author of The Bulletproof Diet) intensive neurofeedback center in Seattle. After helping Asprey develop the program for 40 Years of Zen, I moved back to Los Angeles (where she attended undergrad at Pepperdine University), got married, and opened my private practice.

 

My special interest in mindbody medicine and mental health led me to ketamine therapy - a safe, effective, and powerful approach to treating depression and other mental health conditions.   I am certified in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) by the Ketamine Training Institute (under tutelage of Dr. Phil Wolfson, The Ketamine Papers). After 2 years in practice, I was recruited by Field Trip to be the Clinical Director of their ketamine assisted psychotherapy clinic. 

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In February of 2021, I had my first child, India - the love of my (and my husband's) life. With this change, and others brought about by the pandemic, we decided to move to Nashville to be closer to family. In Tennessee, Naturopathic Doctors are not licensed and not allowed to practice as doctors. It was quite the shift to lose my ability to order labs, diagnose and prescribe medication (including ketamine), but, I pivoted. Luckily in Tennessee I can still provide education on natural health options and recommend diet, lifestyle and supplements - which is 90% of naturopathic medicine anyway! 

 

I decided to purse another masters degree because I have always been more interested in talking with patients than just being a prescriber, so it made sense to get further training in psychotherapy.  I also have a degree in Chinese medicine and am licensed in Tennessee to practice acupuncture.

 

I am currently taking new clients at Simply Being Therapy for psychotherapy (as an intern), acupuncture, and naturopathic consultation. With my expertise in a variety of areas, I am able to offer clients a comprehensive health assessment and a variety of options for treatment.  

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My psychotherapy practice is greatly influenced by somatic psychotherapy (especially Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine and Stephen Porges' work), trauma-informed approaches (Gabor Mate, among many others), and Attachment Theory. I use elements of mindfulness, CBT, DBT, Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Relational Therapy, Jungian Analysis and Motivational Interviewing in my work with clients. 

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