Today we’d like to introduce you to Carissa Henderson.
Carissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Oh my goodness, where to start. I’ve lived in Memphis my whole life and have a large family with several people in the medical field, but I had never really planned on following that path. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to do until my third year of college!
I finally decided nursing was the route for me and graduated with an Associates degree in nursing from Southwest TN Community College in May 2010. I passed my boards and started working as a registered nurse at UT Methodist in July 2010. I worked on 8-Tower, a medical-surgical/stroke care floor, so I cared for a variety of different patients over the years, but I did find myself wondering “there has to be more we can do for these patients…”
In my seven years on 8 Tower I went back to school and earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing and my Master of Science in Nursing from The University of Memphis. While in grad school I was introduced to functional medicine by one of my preceptors and realized there IS so much more we can do for patients than what the current medical care model focuses on.
Luckily for me, that preceptor needed another provider for her growing practice. After I earned my Family Nurse Practitioner board certification I was hired on at Solutions Medical Center in Collierville in June 2017. Word spread quickly about the benefits of functional medicine (especially with the pandemic) and the practice grew exponentially over the next 7 years.
At the same time, my family grew as well. From 2015-2020 I got married and had my 2 girls. I also started the training process for functional medicine through The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). By the time I completed training and earned my board certification from IFM in December 2023, Solutions Medical Center had continued to grow and moved to Germantown.
Unfortunately, as much as I loved my job, the strain of the growing practice along with growing kiddos started to become too much for me and I wasn’t able to practice what I was preaching to patients everyday. This put me at war with my personal core values though it helped me intimately understand the burnout and work-life-balance woes that many of my patients were struggling with. It was the the most complex and difficult period I’ve had to navigate as a professional, mother, wife and advocate for myself which again gave me great perspective on the lifestyle factors that contribute to illness and dis-harmony in the body. The decision to pivot did not come quickly or lightly but after a couple of years, a change became non-negotiable for my own health.
I had been a client at Memphis Wellness Collective (MWC) for several years and really felt aligned with their group of providers. MWC is a collection of independent, holistic wellness practitioners working together to offer whole body wellness, relaxation and conscious care. I felt encouraged and supported by them as I started to entertain the possibility of opening a solo practice. As luck would have it, they opened their new location in June 2024 and offered me an office space if I was ready for it.
It took me about 7 months of working through the grief of leaving Solutions Medical, my coworkers, and patients I cared for, the fear of creating/owning my own practice (which is something I had never dreamed of doing), and finally the nervous excitement of doing something big on my own before I finally took the leap and committed to a space at MWC.
Creating a solo practice has granted me more control and flexibility to better manage my patient load and my family life so that I can show up fully in both. I made the difficult decision to leave Solutions in August of 2024 and by January 2025 I re-discovered my comfort, rhythm and process to working with patients at MWC and showing up for my kids and husband in a way I feel proud of. It’s so difficult as a provider to balance the load, care and concern that naturally comes with the territory and while it has not been a path of easy decisions, they have been worth it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There’s definitely been some ups and downs along the way. The 2020 pandemic threw most medical practices and privately owned businesses for a loop, but we persevered.
Honestly, the biggest “struggle” was navigating the transition from medical provider to wife to mom (and, let’s be honest, being a parent in general) while still taking needed time for myself. While this will continue to be a work in progress through the different phases in our lives, I’m now able to recognize the “red flags” of overload and can pivot and regroup before things get out of hand 🙂
The second biggest struggle was making the decision to go out on my own since it had never been part of the plan. It took making that decision for me to develop faith in myself and give me a sense of personal and professional pride that I hadn’t truly recognized was there before.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
For those who may not know, functional medicine is an approach to health care that focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of diseases and health issues rather than just treating the symptoms. The body is a complex, interconnected system, much like a car with many parts working together. If one part isn’t working well, it can affect the whole system. Functional medicine a personalized and integrative approach that seeks to understand and improve the body’s natural ability to heal and maintain health.
Having a background in Family Practice and Functional Medicine gives me a much larger knowledge base and toolbox to work with and allows me to provide care for patients starting as young as 12 months through 80+ years of age. I see a wide variety of patients. Some people come to me just wanting to optimize their already healthy lifestyle while others have been dealing with multiple chronic health issues for years. Each person is different and I’m able meet them where they’re are and guide them to a stronger state of whole body resilience 🙂
Practicing this model of care allows me to spend more time with patients, listening to their histories and considering the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. I look at things like diet, sleep, stress, and exercise to see how these factors might be contributing to health problems.
I’m passionate about educating patients and helping them navigate their health journey. Every person is truly unique and deserves to have their story heard. I pride myself on providing a safe space to listen, investigate, treat, teach, and support you along the way. I truly believe the better we are as individuals, the better our families, work, and community become as well.
My approach to care:
I LISTEN: I spend an extensive amount of time with each one of my patients listening to their story because every detail and their individual experiences matter. Things patients have and haven’t tried before as well as their positive or negative responses to the changes, are important for connecting the dots and setting the right care plan trajectory.
I INVESTIGATE: In addition to communicating during appointment times, I utilize questionnaires, prior medical history and records, some traditional blood work, advanced cardiovascular health markers, specialty testing, diagnostic imaging and more. Specialty testing can include stool tests like the GIMAP, saliva and urine hormone testing such as DUTCH Plus, micronutrient tests, organic acid tests, genetic tests, and more. Every patient is unique so not all investigations look the same.
I TEACH + TREAT: Results and findings are thoroughly reviewed with each patient allowing plenty of time for questions/concerns. Care plans are curated with each patient to optimize consistency and cost. Care plans can include one or more of the following: lifestyle and dietary modifications, supplements, medications, bioidentical hormone replacement, and occasionally recommendations or referrals to synergistic providers.
I SUPPORT: The duration of follow-up appointments depend upon complexity and education needs. Frequency of follow-up visits can vary although I do recommend scheduling them closer together initially for accountability purposes. I’m available between appointments for brief questions or concerns via patient portal messaging.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I can honestly say I wasn’t the most health conscious individual growing up. Being from a medical family, I was taught to “do what the doctor says” and not ask questions. I grew up in the 90s with the standard American diet and TV lol. I loved music, dancing, and reading (which I still do), I loved fashion and makeup (not so much anymore lol), and I enjoyed spending time with friends and family. My mom tells me I’ve always been kind, compassionate, and concerned for others.
Pricing:
- My clinic policies, which include pricing and my approach to care, are available on my website 😉
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chfmnp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carissah.fxnmednp/
- Other: IFM provider page: https://www.ifm.org/practitioners/carissa-henderson?distance_primary=15.575772759164797
