The strategy applied to achieve your goals in resolving your FM or CFS proceeds over twelve months (should you require the entire protocol) and is divided into three phases.

There is an initial cleansing and regulatory phase where we work to regulate the bowel and nervous system function. This initial phase typically takes four months, with an additional three or more months required occasionally for those who are taking numerous prescription medications at the start of the program, or for those who have several other diagnosed conditions in addition to FM or CFS.

The second (middle) phase is a period of building and nourishing the body to help regain the vital energy that has suffered or decreased from this disorder. At this point, we are addressing the fatigue head on. This phase is usually four months long.

The final (maintenance) phase is a period in which we keep your newly restored health in place for the transition back to everyday life. The maintenance phase can last up to four months, and may extend longer than the 12-month duration of the program. However, this usually will not require further in-office visits.

Through scheduled individual sessions, group workshops and telephone coaching appointments, we guide, teach, support and care for you through the entire program to enable a successful transition to health. The program includes medical supervision, the oral consumption of whole-food natural supplements, individually customized herbal formulas, and support that includes individual sessions and group workshops oriented toward assisting you with making the lifestyle changes that will make your new-found health permanent.

We also work with other healthcare providers, including your doctors, to create an integrated approach to your care. This is worked out during your initial consultations and is tailored to your individual needs.

One aspect of the initial cleansing and regulating phase is the elimination of processed foods, high-dose synthetic supplements and over-the-counter herbs that can be stressing your body and interfering with its natural ability for self-regulation. Additionally, as health is restored over the course of the program, the need for each of your prescription medications is continually reevaluated. Dr. Blackman oversees the weaning of medications in collaboration with your doctors.

Case management at The Gilbert Clinic is a planned and coordinated synthesis of three interdependent approaches – Western Medicine, Eastern Medicine and psychotherapy – to your unique situation.

Each member of the team becomes familiar with your condition – and the wide variety of issues that affect it – in a way that conventional medical practices can approach only in theory. This is done through a combination of clinical visits with each member of the team, as well as regular clinical team meetings. Because the team speaks a common language as it applies to your condition – that is, each member understands intimately the effect of the other’s work with you – there is an enhanced ability to get to the heart of the problem quickly.

Working together in this way, the team develops a unique understanding not only of you and your condition, but with its causative factors. This systematic approach to medicine has been designed to help us understand you as an individual, not just as a set of symptoms. To our knowledge, it is the only model of its kind in the nation.

In short, the integrative treatment program and team approach at The Gilbert Clinic is uniquely effective, and based on years of clinical research, study, and successful experience with the vast majority of their patients who have overcome the debilitating effects of FM and CFS.