Practitioners
Tom Cowan, MD
Dr. Tom Cowan discovered the work of the two men who would have the most influence on his career while teaching gardening as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland, South Africa. He read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price, and a fellow volunteer explained the arcane principles of Rudolf Steiner’s™ biodynamic agriculture. These events inspired him to pursue a medical degree. Tom graduated from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in 1984. After his residency in Family Practice at Johnson City Hospital in Johnson City, New York, he set up an anthroposophical medical practice in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Dr. Cowan relocated to San Francisco in 2003.
Dr. Cowan has served as vice president of the Physicians Association for Anthroposophical Medicine and is a founding board member of the Weston A. Price Foundation. He is the principal author of the book, The Fourfold Path to Healing, which was published in 2004 by New Trends Publishing. He writes the “Ask the Doctor” column in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the Foundation’s™ quarterly magazine, and has lectured throughout the United States and Canada. He has three grown children and currently practices medicine in San Francisco where he resides with his wife, Lynda Smith Cowan.
Brooke Moen, MS, L.Ac
Brooke practices Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional and lifestyle guidance, cupping, moxibustion, and bodywork.
“Traditional” refers to the rich historical and cultural context that helps make Chinese Medicine trustworthy and effective; it is the oldest, professional, continually practiced, literate medicine in the world. Much like Anthroposophical Medicine, TCM looks to nature to inform us about the health of the body. Or, as the Tao Te Ching might say, the inner and the outer reflect each other. The philosophy of Chinese Medicine is that the body has the wisdom it needs to be balanced; tools such as acupuncture, massage, and customized herbal prescription assist in connecting the patient back to such wisdom. Because this approach supports the complex individual rather than only treating particular symptoms and syndromes, it can be applied to a wide variety of conditions.
Brooke received a Master of Science at The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has continued her education through an apprenticeship with a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, as well as working at a Chinese Herbal Pharmacy.
Ingun Schneider, PT
Ingun hosts her Extra Lesson educational support practice at the Fourfold Healing Clinic. Ingun gives individual assessments and lessons which address the needs of children and young people (and even adults) with learning and/or behavior challenges.
Through various movement, drawing, and writing activities, the initial two-hour assessment lesson evaluates integration of the senses, developmental movements, dominance, visual and auditory capacities, when appropriate grade level academic skills, and more. Ingun strives to create a thoughtful picture of the individual’s developmental level, looking for strengths and areas where further development would help ease daily functioning in school and at home.
Ingun has many decades (40+ years) of professional experience in physical therapy, Waldorf teaching (grades 1-8), educational support, and adult education (Lamaze, Waldorf teacher education and remedial education, lectures and workshops on child development around the world). She is a California Licensed Physical Therapist, has a Bachelor Degree in Waldorf education, is trained in Spacial Dynamics®, and is a candidate for a Masters in Education.
Karen Hamilton-Roth, RN
Karen teaches her clients to become healthy and vibrant using diet (e.g. Nourishing Traditions and GAPS) and lifestyle modification. She also supports them in implementing Dr. Cowan’s treatment plans.
Karen has been a nurse for more than twenty years, having worked both in hospital and private practice settings. She has studied a wide variety of healing modalities. Eating and cooking nourishing traditional foods has helped her greatly in her own healing journey.
Karen enthusiastically shares her insights and tips with her patients.
Sabine Luis
Sabine has had a long time interest in art, adventure, and healing. After studying acupressure in Berkeley, California, in 1998, her travels lead her to the east coast where she had some of her herbal training on a small farm. Sally Fallon visited this small group of apprentices and introduced a food philosophy, which was what Sabine had been looking for in her nutritional studies. She easily took to the Price style of cooking, and after landing in San Francisco several years later, was guided into the newly forming WAPF local chapter. Through this great network of people, she naturally fell into place at Dr. Cowan’s office where she enjoys learning new remedies for common health problems and putting together resources for patients.
Valerie Baadh Garrett, CLM
Valerie is a certified Spacial Dynamics® and Lebed Method® practitioner, and offers private movement coaching and ongoing classes for patients of Dr. Cowan who are healing from serious illnesses such as cancer or lymphedema (The Lebed Method). With Spacial Dynamics exercises, Valerie leads gentle yet profound movements for healing as described by Jaimen McMillan in The Fourfold Path To Healing. After 15 years on the faculty of SF Waldorf School, she has been a guest presenter of movement workshops for Stanford University, Spacial Dynamics® Institute, and Rudolf Steiner College, and mentors other movement teachers in the Bay Area. In addition to her work at Fourfold Clinic, SF Center for Therapeutic Arts and Education, Neighborhood Playgarden and San Francisco Movement Studio, she is a performing member of the vintage ballroom Academy of Danse Libre. Private sessions take place at Grand View Studio, 59 Grand View Avenue, 10 minutes from the Fourfold Clinic.
Jennifer Schmid
Jennifer Schmid is a traditional naturopath who specializes in ADD/ADHD/Sensory Integration, natural fertility awareness, and weight loss. Like Dr. Cowan, she integrates the research of Weston A. Price and Rudolf Steiner to help people find whole health and shows them how diet and lifestyle can positively and negatively affect one’s well-being – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Traditional naturopaths do not diagnose illness or prescribe treatments but rather focus on teaching clients about the healing properties of nature. Using a variety of therapies, such as nutrition, sleep, homeopathy, whole-food supplements, meditation, clean air and water, herbs, the arts, and movement, Jennifer guides and empowers her clients to reclaim the joy and health that can seem lost after receiving a label or diagnosis.
Jennifer completed her naturopathic studies at Clayton College of Natural Health. She has been cooking nourishing traditional foods for several years, is married to a Waldorf teacher, and is the mother of three children who attend the Waldorf School of the Peninsula.
To schedule an appointment with Jennifer or for more information, please visit www.jenniferschmid.net.
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