Meet Dr. Houser

Bio

Dr. Houser is the founder of the Center for Collaborative Medicine, a practice focused on the importance of the healing, therapeutic alliance between patient and physician.  This approach is grounded in both ancient traditions of medicine, and more recent ones from the counseling and psychology fields that emphasize the patient as the expert on him or herself.  The physician's role is guide, resource, and support for the patient. This truly collaborative approach is a wonderful match to Dr. Houser's experience and expertise with her combined background in medicine, neuroscience, and psychology. 

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The interventions utilized in the practice flow in part from the newly formed field of Lifestyle Medicine, in which Dr. Houser is board certified.  Lifestyle Medicine emphasizes the critical importance of nutrition, sleep, exercise, social support, stress management, and toxin avoidance in creating both health and disease.  Dr. Houser began teaching mind-body medicine, a component of Lifestyle Medicine, at the university level more than twenty years ago. She is thrilled to be able to blend her enthusiasm for medicine and biology with her lifelong commitment to psychology in this practice – promoting wellness, but also seeking to treat and reverse disease. 

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Dr. Houser's interest in work with patients dealing with cancer began when her father was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer.  Experiencing first-hand the limitations of our current traditional treatment options for cancer, it was natural with her background in research and non-traditional approaches to look for alternative and complementary options. 

Dr. Houser is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and of the Johns Hopkins University, board certified in Lifestyle Medicine and previously board certified for two decades in Emergency Medicine.  Her experience in Emergency Medicine means that she has a broad background in medicine, and is accustomed to working with patients of all ages and backgrounds.  She is also fellowship trained in Wilderness Medicine, and has been the wilderness medicine consultant for archaeologists at Yale University for many years.  She is a published author, educator, and fully trained researcher.  

Coming from a grounding in social science and philosophy, Dr. Houser completed graduate studies in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology at George Washington University and the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke – NINDS).  She trained in counseling early in her career, later completed a postgraduate diploma in Counseling Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland, and is an avid student of both person-centered counseling and Jungian psychology.  She has lived and worked in three western societies and health systems.