Hello! I’m Dr Meryl McBride, and I am a licensed Naturopathic Doctor living in Seattle, Washington. A Naturopath is a medical physician, licensed as primary care providers in many states including Washington. Naturopaths blend modern scientific knowledge with traditional and holistic forms of medicine. We undergo 4-5 years of rigorous education and obtain a large tool box; we not only undertake extensive training on diet, nutrition and optimal movement, but an ND studies herbal medicines, homeopathy, physical manipulation, lifestyle counseling, nutraceuticals and hydrotherapy. Our patients receive individualized treatments, guided by our philosophy and the body’s innate ability to heal once the underlying root causes are treated and the obstacles to cure are removed. I work with all kinds of people seeking help with acute and chronic conditions.
I believe that as a doctor, my role is to act as a catalyst and a witness in the healing journeys of my patients. My commitment to those who seek to work with me, is to provide that guidance with honesty, openness and a relentless dedication to provide what I can to assist them to live the life they want. I am a doctor who has been through pain and dis-ease and I work with people who are desiring to move out of that story and into health and freedom.
A Little History
I became a Naturopathic doctor because for me, it simply made the most sense. I grew up immersed in the foothills of many great mountain ranges in California and Arizona. I pursued entering allopathic medical school, until I was disillusioned after having some of my own negative experiences. I loved the idea of being a doctor, working with others to deal with their suffering and pain, but something didn’t quite fit for me in contemporary medicine. I instead studied ecology and evolutionary biology with minors in mathematics and English literature. Unbeknownst to me then, but studying ecology, which is all about relationships, primed me to think about my future patients within their own internal relationships (the microbiome, the bond between the immune and nervous systems, nutrients coupled with chemical metabolites, etc.) and their larger ecosystems (family, social ideologies, environmental toxins, connection with Nature); all of which today influences my treatment suggestions. I struggled through my own medical issues in my twenties which is when I was first introduced to Naturopathic medicine and I had my own “ah-ha” moment. I loved everything about this medicine, it considers the individual person and takes an understanding of the function of the body as a whole, treating the root cause with medicines that are just as dynamic as we are. It was the niche I was always looking for and didn’t know existed! After receiving my “calling”, I gave up an almost 10 year career in management and entered Bastyr University to study Naturopathic Medicine. I learned that health is a matter of ecology, within you, around you, and how you fit into the unfolding movement of the cosmos. My whole life seemed to take me here. This is the medicine I know, I love, and I practice.
Beyond medicine, I have a wonderful husband and we have two young children. I am an avid walker, hiker, dynamic mover, minimalist shoe-wearers, long-time meditator and reader. My family and I cook organic, whole food meals, play regularly, occasionally assist in harvesting medicinal plants and spend as much time as we can out in the Cascade mountains near our home. Life is a never-ending journey of discovery and growth and I would be honored to work with you as a guide and fellow traveler on your journey to health.
my personal approach to medicine
As a Naturopathic doctor, I understand that taking the time to listen to my patients is part of the cure. By listening to my patients, I am often able to hear them speak not only the true cause of their disease, but I am able to hear what they are truly striving for, whether that be eating different foods, needing more emotional support, the conditions that a specific herb or homeopathic can remedy or the limitations of stressors in their life. I am focused on my patients with individualized care, because each of us have different needs and conditions for health and different obstacles to cure. I use simple medicines; diet, water, movement, nature, herbs, homeopathic medicines, craniosacral therapy and education to achieve amazing results. My goal for my patients is to gain a joyful and fulfilled sense of self, because they are not just given a prescription, they are part of determining and creating their treatment. If my patients can thrive, without disease or pain, then that allows them to release internal habitual struggles like addictions, stress and negative thought patterns. Releasing internal struggles and connecting with oneself through meditation or spiritual means, brings about more freedom and because of that patients can begin to live their best life. They can live, to what I like to call, their highest “Mountain Self” – one which gives back to the world creating a harmonious, sustainable, productive and loving society. On every act, the balance of the whole depends, and we must learn to keep the balance (thank you Ursula Le Guin). I am grateful whenever people show up to take care of themselves, knowing that taking the courage to make small changes results in boundless change to the world at large.
“Wisdom one learns among men, but the higher qualities of the soul one acquired in the mountains.”
-Mongolian proverb