Our physicians are Board Certified in both Family Medicine and in Integrative and Holistic medicine, and are trained in Functional Medicine. Dr. Calihan is a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner. Our nurse practitioner is also trained in functional medicine, and we have a variety of other providers who offer services in alignment with our philosophy of health and wellness. That philosophy is that optimal health and wellness comes from being in balance in the body, mind and spirit, and that this is best attained through addressing each of the five key areas that contribute to the overall balance: healthful eating, balanced movement, integrative medicine, mindful stress management and interconnected living. These areas are the stones in the Five Stones.
Dr. Martha Calihan has practiced Family Medicine for more than 25 years, during which time her interests and her practice have evolved into a holistic, integrative approach to medicine. She is licensed to practice acupuncture and is also trained in Mind-Body Medicine. In 2013, she was certified to practice Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine. She was part of the first group of practitioners to be certified nationally.
Dr. Calihan graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1982 and then completed her residency in Family Medicine at the Fairfax Family Practice Center, in Fairfax, Virginia, where she served as chief resident. After completing her residency, Dr. Calihan served as a faculty member at the residency until she moved to Leesburg-Sterling Family Practice in 1990.
Dr. Calihan studied acupuncture at the UCLA School of Medicine program with Dr. Joseph Helms. In 1997, she trained with Dr. Jim Gordon at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC, and was subsequently a preceptor at his program for training health care professionals in Mind-Body Medicine skills. In 2000 Dr. Calihan attained board certification in Holistic Medicine.
It is from this learned background that Dr. Calihan has come to practice Integrative Medicine, a field for which she has great passion. It is in the practice of Integrative Medicine that she is able to combine modalities from multiple traditions of healthcare, and in so doing to approach each patient uniquely and to develop a personalized plan with each to achieve optimal health and wellbeing.
Dr. Ma is a board-certified Family Medicine physician with extensive training and practice in acupuncture. At IFMC his practice includes the appropriate application of acupuncture and herbal medicines.
He graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 1993 with a BA in biology and later obtained his medical degree at CWRU. During the summer after his junior undergraduate year he travelled to Beijing, where he received a diploma from the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This experience helped shape the focus of his future practices, integrating Eastern and Western approaches to healing. He obtained additional training at UCLAs Helms Institute Medical Acupuncture for Physicians, a highly regarded program designed to educate conventionally trained physicians.
In 1997 he joined the Family Practice Residency Program at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he expanded his interest in complementary medicines including acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and where he envisioned a fully holistic approach to healing. He spent a year serving several rural Minnesota communities, then two years in private practice in suburban Minneapolis. In 2003, he moved to Northern Virginia and joined the Leesburg/Sterling Family Practice. He later joined Loudoun Medical Group Immediate and Primary Care in Sterling. He is a member of the American Board of Holistic Medicine and has Board Certification in Holistic Medicine.
Dr. Brown was a registered nurse for twenty years before earning her masters degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Early in her career, as she cared for patients suffering from cancer and infectious diseases she became interested in natural health treatments. Today she is committed to integrative healthcare and providing a full spectrum of modalities to help heal Mind-Body-Spirit.
Aware of the Mind-Body connection for many years, Dr. Brown started a private Reiki practice more than ten years ago and is now a Reiki Master. She is also participating in a certification program for Ayurvedic medicine at the Maryland University for Integrative Health. She completed her undergraduate work in Pennsylvania and Georgia. In 2002, she obtained her Masters in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from George Mason University. As an FNP, she specialized in Primary Care, Urgent Care and Occupational Health, and always offering the patient holistic as well as conventional approaches to care.
In December 2012, she obtained her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from George Mason, where her research concentrated in using the precepts of functional medicine for reducing inflammation by using diets and supplements and supporting mitochondrial function. She worked with Dr. Calihan while finishing her Doctoral Studies.
Lara is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and Licensed Dietition-Nutritionist. Working from the ground up, Lara focuses on helping her clients achieve a well balanced, nourishing way of eating. She uses food as medicine, and when necessary adds in professional grade supplements tailored to each individuals needs. Lara also guides her clients toward a more balanced way of living, incorporating movement and rest, which along with good nutrition are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle.
Lara graduated in 2014 from Maryland University of Integrative Health with her Masters of Nutrition and Integrative Health and has been working in the clinical setting every since. She is a Licensed Dietitian-Nutritionist by the state of Maryland. Before finding her path in wellness, Lara graduated from University of Massachusetts with a BA in Classics.
A nationally certified massage therapist who specializes in identifying and correcting dysfunction within the body of each client. He has been working with energy and the healing arts through massage and body work since 1994.
Brian blends his knowledge of human anatomy and informed intuition to address client needs. He employs several bodywork techniques that range from Swedish and deep tissue massage, to myofascial, craniosacral and Bowen techniques. These techniques and his deep knowledge of energy work and personal training offer clients a unique understanding and skillset for their own healing and personal growth. Brians private practice, Body Energetics, has been a part of IFMC since 2008.
George manages the IFMC office operations. He also trains clients in the FirstLine Therapy personalized lifestyle medicine program in which he is certified. He helps clients adopt and sustain therapeutic lifestyle changes such as healthy nutrition, exercise, and stress management. George brings warmth to all interactions and our patients enjoy learning more about their healthy options and how to best improve their quality of life from him.
A Certified Hypnotist since 1994, Vanessa brings twenty-plus years of licensed of experience, skill, and wisdom in helping and guiding her patients. She actually started hypnotizing friends at school at the age of fourteen. After working for many years as a licensed hypnotist, she went on to get her Masters. Her thesis topic was The Use of Hypnosis for Fibromyalgia Pain. Fast-forward forty years, and shes still at it!
Trained in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Ericksonian metaphoric techniques, Vanessa keeps up to date with any new studies on the subject of hypnosis. She is a member of The National Guild of Hypnotists, and writes articles, lectures and creates new techniques of her own on a regular basis.
Vanessa works alongside medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists and dentists and is a firm believer in collaborating with any and all professionals if she feels it will help her clients. At Integrative Functional Medicine Center, she often works with patients whom Dr. Calihan feels would benefit greatly from hypnosis and working at the subconscious level.
Educated in both Great Britain and the United States, Vanessa holds a Bachelors degree in Holistic Health and a Masters in Hypnosis.
Yolanda manages our front desk, welcoming everyone who walks through our doors with a high level of care and concern. She is also administrative assistant and brings her creative touch to our web newsletter. A native Washingtonian, Yolanda studied design at the Corcoran School of art and completed a BA in Art History at George Mason University. She was Art Director of SCIENCE magazine, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where she helped redesign the publication and worked on the publications first Human Genome chart. After several moves that took her family to Massachusetts, Colorado and New Jersey, she returned to the Washington area. She worked at the Muscular Dystrophy Association and at a Reston chiropractic office before joining IFMC.
Louise provides IFMC with a unique set of concierge skills; whether following-up with patient call-backs, front desk needs and behind-the-scenes support, she brings a great warmth to all she touches. With a compassionate prior career in nursing, Louise has a great perspective in providing care and comfort. She has previously worked at a boarding school, in an orthopedics office and another holistic medical office. Louise embraces the holistic lifestyle and strives to represent a healthy approach to life, mind and body. She brings an earnestness to the office that is refreshing and makes us all rethink perspective and attitudes and see things fresh.
Ann has been teaching yoga and meditation at the Center since its inception in 2008. She offers group classes and one-on-one sessions in mindful stress management, yoga, meditation, and reiki to support patients in their healing process and restore balance in mind, body and spirit.
Her teaching experience extends over 25 years. She is certified in the Iyengar method of yoga instruction which is a classic hatha yoga style. It emphasizes awareness in movement, alignment, breath and therapeutic techniques. She has studied several times at the Iyengar Institute in India, and has additional training in Integrative Yoga Therapy, and Relax & Renew restorative yoga. She is also a Reiki level III practitioner.
Annhas a masters degree in Community Health Promotion and Education, and has focused her work on the benefits of yoga and meditation to address stress-related illness since 1992. She was a biofeedback and yoga therapist, and health educator at Georgetown University Medical Center. She then earned a graduate certificate in theology, served as a hospital chaplain and is supportive of the role faith can play in healthcare. She is honored to be part of the Five Stones Center, and to walk with others on the journey toward wholeness in mind, body and spirit, through every stage of life.
Christopher designs and implements individualized functional exercise programs.
He has been a Personal Trainer for 12 years including six in management roles. His love of fitness began at age 14. A skinny kid all his life, he wanted to find a way to add muscle so he could join the wrestling team, which led to weight lifting. Almost immediately, strength training turned from a hobby to a passion that would eventually become a career. Christopher attended Elon University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Physiology, and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and National Academy of Sports Medicine.
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Functional Medicine Physicians and Staff - Five Stones
