Lisa Underhill, MN, NP

Ottawa, Virtual

Lisa is a nurse practitioner with the CHI. She earned her Masters in nursing at Dalhousie University and her Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner post graduate diploma at the University of Ottawa.

Lisa has always been drawn to a holistic, mind-body view in health and wellness. She has studied therapeutic touch and is certified as a hatha yoga instructor.

She has been a nurse her entire career in many different roles and settings, such as home care, intensive care, clinical teaching and supervision for nursing students, program development and evaluation, and public health policy for chronic disease prevention and management at the Public Health Agency of Canada. During the last 10 years she has worked in several community health centers as a nurse practitioner (NP). Teaching and clinical practice have been the most rewarding for Lisa in her career.

Lisa is curious and loves learning. She has recently become certified with the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) which includes completion of the following courses: immune health, gut health, environmental, bioenergetics, bio-identical hormones, cardio-metabolic health and applying functional medicine in clinical practice. She has attended ILADS (International Lyme and associated diseases) conferences the past 2 years and has completed ILADS’s foundational course.

Applying principles to address root cause of illness and disease, Lisa focuses on understanding lifestyle (sleep, gut health/nutrition, movement, stress management) and the impact this has on health and quality of life. She has a special interest in gut health, mental health, nervous system dysregulation, trauma healing, and finding purpose, all as pathways to bring healing into life.

Lisa also brings a trauma informed lens to her practice. She successfully completed six courses in the Level 1 Biology of Trauma certification with Trauma Healing Accelerated and is completing level one of the Primal Trust program. Lisa incorporates teachings on how the nervous system works, and how it can get stuck in freeze or in an overwhelmed state especially with chronic long haul viral/bacterial conditions.

She incorporates health coaching and active listening to help identify specific goals and supports patients to make realistic behavior changes to improve health and wellness. She wants her clients to leave appointments engaged, clear on next steps and feeling hopeful about their health.

Lisa sees both adults and adolescents.