Alexis Chesney ND, LAc is an ISEAI Full Member and Naturopathic Physician. She practices at Sojourns Community Health Clinic in Westminster, Vermont & has a Private Practice in Northampton, Massachusetts.  

What is your primary field of work, where are you located, and do you offer remote consultations?

I work with a team of practitioners at Sojourns Community Health Clinic, a non-profit in beautiful rural Westminster, Vermont. At Sojourns, I work with patients in-person and remotely. I am licensed in Vermont; my scope of practice includes full prescription rights and I am covered by Vermont (and some out-of-state) insurances. I also have a small private practice based out of Northampton, Massachusetts which is currently remote-only.

What are your specialties and unique perspectives on environmental health?

I am a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist specializing in complex chronic illness, with a major focus on Lyme and vector-borne diseases as well as mold toxicity/CIRS. Grounded in naturopathic principles, I utilize pharmaceutical and natural therapies, value patient education and find it is essential to partner with my patients on their health journeys. I enjoy the medical detective work it takes to uncover the root cause(s) of their complex chronic illnesses. Acquiring a thorough medical history is key. I visualize the whole person as a puzzle. As I understand one piece of medical history, it may lead to finding another piece from medical testing, which may bring into focus a particular root cause of illness, and lead to making further discoveries and ultimately a dynamic treatment plan. In my patient population, some of the dominant root cause puzzle pieces include pathogens transmitted during a tick bite and mold exposure. I look at the whole person, especially considering neuro-immuno-endocrine effects and supporting the detox organs. Slowly the whole picture becomes clearer, the treatment unfolds and healing happens.

How did you get into your field of expertise and what led you into the realm of EAI? What are one or two of your biggest EAI “aha” moments?

I will always remember the day I first learned about CIRS. I stumbled upon a presentation given by Neil Nathan and Wayne Anderson at an ILADS conference in the early 2010s. People squeezed into the room and spilled into the hallway to hear their message. Standing there riveted, I sensed that we were being invited to travel to the next frontier. That lecture transformed my understanding of chronic illness, provided me with a framework for diagnosing and treating CIRS and set me on my way for a lifetime of learning on this complex topic. After returning from the conference I started running the Shoemaker lab panel on my sickest patients and started asking everyone about mold exposure. Sure enough, many of my most severely debilitated or “stuck” patients with tick-borne diseases were dealing with CIRS and often mold toxicity.

Another moment of insight came during a glutathione IV. I remember seeing a young woman who became suddenly and severely disabled as a result of EAI. Witnessing the quick ameliorating effect glutathione IVs had on her neurological symptoms was profound.

Lastly, it always amazes me that time and time again, people who remove themselves from a moldy environment truly notice an acceleration in healing!

What would you like the public and other ISEAI members to know?

First, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the ISEAI community. I am grateful for the kind, brilliant humans, from health care practitioners to Indoor Environmental Professionals, who make up this impactful organization.

Second, I am passionate about tick bite prevention and wrote the book Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases in order to equip practitioners and the public with how to prevent tick bites and therefore tick-borne diseases. I also created the Tick Preparedness Kit, which I discuss in the book. I strongly believe that we must stop the tick-borne disease epidemic through prevention!

Get in touch:

Sojourns Community Health Clinic
Phone: (800) 722-4023
Website: Sojourns Community Health Clinic
Email: client_services@sojourns.org

Private Practice
Phone: (516) 946-1581
Website: Alexis Chesney, ND, LAc