Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabelle Bouchard.
Isabelle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a young professional in Kansas City, I was mentored by some exceptional senior dietitians in the eating disorder field to start a private practice where there was not much treatment for individuals with eating disorders.
Eventually I made my way to Columbia, MO and Bamboo Nutrition became a group practice born out of high demand for nutrition services in mid-missouri.
We are in network with insurance, therefore had people reaching out for all different types of nutritional needs. Since my background, as the owner of the practice, was in eating disorders, it was important to me that Bamboo Nutrition remained a food positive space for anyone seeking services.
One of our dietitians on our team says it perfectly, we are a “counter-cultural practice.” Many of our clients come to us seeking nutrition services for a specific issue, but find that their entire mindset around food is grounded in diet-rules, weight-stigma, and false nutrition information sourced from misinformed professionals, online social media, or weight loss books.
Our clients work with our dietitians to form long-term positive health behavior, build a foundation of nutrition education that will protect them from misinformation, and ultimately have the tools they need to conquer the additional issues that arise with living a long-life and ever changing health.
Now, Bamboo Nutrition includes therapy. We are an interdisciplinary practice of dietitians and therapists aimed to support our clients with mental fortitude and physical health. We hope all our clients experience peace with food and a positive relationship with their nutrition decisions, allowing them to live a life free from dieting pressure.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our team has grown at all the right times. We love having therapists on our team to compliment the nutrition work our dietitians do. The clients we have who see both a dietitian and a therapist receive a big bear hug from us as a practice. Their treatment is holistic and client-centered.
The dietitians on our team all value the peace-with-food framework that our company is founded upon. We see ourselves as a “boutique” practice. We are not associated with a hospital or health clinic of any kind. We stand alone, but plug into our client’s treatment team seamlessly. Our providers care a lot about the work that they do and individualize everything to their clients. There is no rush to meet deadlines, or hit workflow numbers, but each provider can operate at a pace that allows them to be dedicated to their clients and practice evidenced-based work.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bamboo Nutrition?
Bamboo Nutrition began as a group practice of registered dietitians, but expanded to include therapy in 2022. We work with clients who have any sort of nutrition condition, mental health struggle, or type of eating disorder.
Our clients who experience the most dramatic change through working with our dietitians, are the ones open to a different nutrition framework. If the client is looking for weight loss, calorie reduction, or a specific meal plan, they will not benefit from working with us. But those open to seeing the faults in diets, wanting to work on their food behaviors and relationship with food (meaning the mental response to food decisions) and trusting in the education they are receiving from expert dietitians, are the clients who make the most progress in their mental and physical health journey.
Our therapists are all specialized in body image, eating disorders, relationships, anxiety and depression, and more. They work well with our therapists and can be a big support for those who experience these issues in relation to food.
We offer classes and groups from time-to-time. We always offer individual counseling and nutrition sessions. The minimum number of sessions we typically have are 4, but many of our clients come back for frequent, consistent check-ins, or ongoing treatment, depending on what they’re dealing with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bamboonutritionrd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bamboonutritionrd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BambooNutritionRD/
