This week, we’re featuring Ellen Syversen, MPH, FNTP, RHP
Ellen Syversen has a Masters Degree in Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health, and over 10 years of experience as a certified health educator. Her passion for nutrition started as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa, where she worked on maternal and child health issues as a nutritionist in a rural village for two years. Prior to starting a nutritional therapy practice, Ellen managed and directed the OSU Lane County Extension Nutrition Education Program and conducted numerous seminars county wide.
Combining her background as a health educator with her training as a nutritional therapy practitioner, Ellen offers clients holistic nutrition counseling, therapy, and education with the goal of correcting imbalances in body chemistry and achieving optimal wellness naturally. She is a Level 3 Restorative Health Practitioner, and will be taking the Level 4 course this August. As a functional nutritionist who loves to use objective lab testing, she specializes in chronic fatigue, food sensitivities, and digestive dysfunction/hormonal imbalance. Ellen is a mom to two lovely teenage girls and a sweet Belgian Malinois dog, has been happily married for over 25 years, is a nature enthusiast and avid hiker, and she loves to practice what she preaches. “It brings me great joy to watch clients’ health transform from sick and tired to energized and joyful.” She has been practicing as an NTP for 11 years and as an RHP practitioner since 2016.
How are you using the skills you learned through IRH?
Between 2016 and 2017, I completed all three levels of IRH. Prior to that I did adrenal and hormone panels as this was my area of expertise at the time, but I did not feel like I had enough tools to take on the more difficult clients that were presenting with challenging gastrointestinal symptoms.
Since completing the IRH courses, I have had amazing success with challenging clients, many with autoimmune diagnoses, by using all the tools and protocols I learned through the coursework. I have listened to every Mindshare presentation, mentored with IRH instructors to increase my knowledge, and am active in the IRH forum while also pursuing continuing education opportunities to assist the complex clients in my practice, Pathways for Health, LLC.
Where I am now: I currently have an integrative MD who provides continual referrals including his fiancée. I have learned from these referrals that he is singing my praises and telling his patients that I am the best functional nutritionist in Lane County, OR. Another client’s Harvard-trained functional medicine doctor looked at the protocol that I put together for her after doing comprehensive blood work, GI MAP and MRT plus a menopausal hormone panel with CAR. He commented, “Wow, your nutritionist really knows what she is doing, and I agree with all her testing recommendations and subsequent protocols.” I can attribute this success to the skills, tools, and clinical confidence I have gained through IRH. Currently, I mainly work with females aged 20-60; however, I do have men and some children in my practice. Just a month ago, I joined Margaret Floyd Barry’s Eat Naked Kitchen Team, and I have started seeing her clients as well. It is exciting to work with Margaret and be a part of her team in addition to seeing clients in my own practice.
What’s your superpower when it comes to working with clients?
I was a psychology major in college and did a lot of volunteer and internship work. I worked in a group home for emotionally disturbed boys, volunteered on a suicide hotline, and I spent my summers working with mentally disabled clients in a group home setting, while also waitressing to earn money for school.
So, my superpower is counseling and coaching, which come extremely easy to me and really help people feel safe and comfortable when working with me. I help them work through their ambivalence, support them through the challenging protocols with empathy, and I can put myself in their shoes. I always share my own story and past health struggles to keep it real, so my clients know that I get it. Clients feel relieved to know that I am not perfect, that I too have struggled and suffered, and can understand what they are going through.
What’s one fun thing most people don’t know about you? (Not necessarily related to career)
Most people do not know that I spent two and a half years in Niger, West Africa in a rural village as a nutritionist in the Peace Corps. I assisted the midwife with births, weighed babies, gave health education lessons to women in Hausa, the local language, got funding for a community garden and Vitamin A distribution project, did home visits to check on women with sick children, and trained incoming volunteers for two months alongside a renowned International Health Consultant. I witnessed a great deal of Marasmus and Kwashiorkor, but I also got to observe how happy my fellow villagers were, even in the face of adversity. I did get malaria, but I also got to travel to Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Morocco. I departed the African continent from Morocco on a boat going past the straights of Gibraltar to Spain.
How do you spend your time when not seeing clients?
When not seeing clients, I love to spend time with my husband, two teen girls (16 and 19) and our dog, Ginger, doing outdoor activities like kayaking, hiking, camping, and skiing. I love to travel to new places, read, do HIIT and Zumba workouts, cook yummy nutrient dense meals, bake healthy treats, soak in my hot tub, and spend time with friends over dinner and a glass of wine. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is attend outdoor concerts and dance like crazy!
Can you share a success story from your practice?
When I first saw Krista, she could not get out of bed due to debilitating migraines, and she could barely drink water without feeling severe nausea. She has Cushing’s disease, a thyroidectomy due to cancer, and had no gallbladder.
She was eating a SAD diet and had no experience with a clean, whole food diet. She had more food sensitivities than any client I have ever seen. It was a real challenge for her to upgrade her diet, avoid the inflammatory foods and figure out what to eat. However, I was able to coach her through the process and find reasonable substitutes for all her favorite foods. After completing her six-month program that included blood work, stool testing, food sensitivity testing, and a complex supplement protocol, the migraines were gone, her nausea was 75% better, her bloating was minimal, and her diarrhea resolved. She was one happy camper, and incredibly grateful for the help and support.
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FAQ
The following frequently asked questions expand on the key clinical themes and practitioner insights highlighted in this practitioner spotlight.
Who does Ellen Syversen primarily work with in her functional nutrition practice?
Ellen primarily works with women between the ages of 20 and 60, although she also sees men and some children. Her practice focuses on helping clients with complex chronic health concerns through holistic nutrition counseling, education, and individualized protocols.
What are Ellen Syversen’s clinical areas of focus?
Ellen specializes in chronic fatigue, food sensitivities, digestive dysfunction, and hormonal imbalance. She also has extensive experience working with clients who have complex health histories and autoimmune diagnoses.
How did completing the IRH training change Ellen’s clinical practice?
IRH training expanded Ellen’s ability to work with complex gastrointestinal cases and increased her clinical confidence. Before completing the program, she primarily focused on adrenal and hormone testing, but afterward she incorporated additional clinical tools and protocols to address more challenging cases.
Why is gastrointestinal dysfunction an important focus when working with complex clients?
According to Ellen’s experience, addressing gastrointestinal dysfunction provided additional clinical tools for managing clients with complex presentations. She notes that expanding her approach beyond adrenal and hormone testing improved her success with difficult cases.
How does continuing education support practitioners working with complex cases?
Continuing education helps practitioners build clinical knowledge and confidence over time. Ellen describes participating in mentorship, educational presentations, practitioner forums, and additional professional development to strengthen her ability to support complex clients.
What role does laboratory testing play in Ellen’s clinical approach?
Objective laboratory testing is an important part of Ellen’s functional nutrition practice. In one client example, she used comprehensive blood work, stool testing, food sensitivity testing, and hormone testing to guide clinical recommendations.
What types of testing were included in the featured client success story?
The featured case included multiple forms of assessment to help guide care.
These included:
- Comprehensive blood work
- Stool testing
- Food sensitivity testing
- Menopausal hormone testing (mentioned elsewhere in Ellen’s practice)
- An individualized supplement protocol
How can nutrition coaching improve adherence to complex nutrition protocols?
Ellen emphasizes that counseling and coaching help clients feel safe, understood, and supported throughout challenging protocols. She also helps clients identify practical food substitutions that make dietary changes more sustainable.
How does practitioner empathy influence client outcomes?
Ellen believes empathy strengthens the therapeutic relationship by helping clients feel understood. Sharing her own health experiences and supporting clients through difficult changes encourages trust and long-term engagement.
What challenges did the featured client present with?
The featured client had multiple complex health concerns, including debilitating migraines, severe nausea, Cushing’s disease, prior thyroidectomy for cancer, gallbladder removal, numerous food sensitivities, and a standard American diet. These factors required a comprehensive, individualized approach.
What outcomes were reported after the client’s six-month program?
According to the case shared in the article, the client experienced significant improvements after six months. Reported outcomes included:
- Resolution of migraines
- Approximately 75% improvement in nausea
- Minimal bloating
- Resolution of diarrhea
What contributes to long-term clinical confidence as a functional nutrition practitioner?
Ellen attributes her clinical confidence to formal training, ongoing education, mentorship, and consistent application of evidence-informed clinical tools. She also credits continued learning and collaboration with helping her manage increasingly complex client cases.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margaret Floyd Barry, FNTP MRHP is owner and Executive Director of the Institute of Restorative Health. She’s a functional nutritionist, author, speaker, educator, and real food advocate. Through years of experience working with the most complex client cases, including reversing her own autoimmune condition, Margaret uses a powerful system for restoring health by addressing the root cause of illness.
Today, Margaret teaches fellow practitioners the same proven system she uses to get her clients life-changing results through the Institute of Restorative Health – a two-year comprehensive functional nutrition certification program for qualified health professionals. Margaret also runs Restorative Corporate Wellness, a team of Restorative Health Practitioners facilitating health transformations with corporate clients. She is the author of Eat Naked and its follow-up cookbook The Naked Foods Cookbook. She’s also the host of the Clinician’s Corner podcast, where she interviews some of the world’s top experts in the fields of functional health and nutrition.
