Functional Medicine & Naturopathic Care in McLean, VA
Personalized, comprehensive care to help you understand what’s driving your symptoms and build better health for the years ahead.
Virtual and In-Person Appointments Available
Naturopathic & Functional Medicine in McLean
Content by Dr. Christopher Johnson, ND | Founder, Thrive Naturopathic
Thrive Naturopathic now has a second Northern Virginia location in downtown McLean, providing convenient access to our care for people in McLean, Tysons, Great Falls, Vienna, Falls Church and North Arlington.
While our McLean office is new, Thrive is not. For more than 18 years, we’ve helped people throughout Northern Virginia address their health concerns and build a stronger foundation for long-term health.
Our McLean location offers the same comprehensive, personalized approach that has helped thousands of patients at our established Alexandria practice.
When You Know Something Isn’t Right
Many of the people I see are doing a lot of the right things, yet they still don’t feel well. Their energy has changed. They’re gaining weight more easily, sleeping poorly, struggling with digestive issues or simply feeling less resilient than they used to.
Often, they’ve already tried different diets, supplements or medications — which may have helped to a degree but don’t seem to be fully doing the trick. Many have been told their lab work “looks normal”.
If that sounds familiar, the question may not be which symptom to treat next, but why your body isn’t responding the way it once did.
A Different Way to Think About Your Health
After working with more than 3,000 patients, I’ve found that persistent symptoms often make more sense when we step back and look at how the body is functioning as a whole. We need to think about our fundamental systems, such as the nervous and immune systems our hormones and stress response.
In this short video, I explain how I think about these changes — and the approach we use at Thrive to help people build better health.
What We Help With
People come to Thrive with many different health concerns, but it is always important to connect the dots and get to the true underlying issues. Hormones, metabolism, digestion, sleep and the stress response are all connected and can really affect how you feel. Some of the most common areas we work with include:
Midlife & Hormone Health
Support for the physical and hormonal changes that can affect energy, mood, sleep, weight and how you feel as you move through midlife. Learn More →
Weight & Metabolic Health
Looking beyond calories to the hormonal, metabolic and lifestyle factors that can make maintaining a healthy weight more difficult. Learn More →
Gut & Digestive Health
A comprehensive approach to digestive symptoms looking at the underlying factors that affect gut health – such as nervous system balance and the microbiome. Learn More →
Stress, Sleep & Resilience
Helping improve the way your body responds to stress, supports restorative sleep and maintains resilience to help you stay balanced in the face of life’s challenges. Learn More →
A More Comprehensive Approach to Care
At Thrive, we know that improving your health doesn’t comes from chasing one symptom at a time. When your body is not working how it should, that’s a clue that fundamental, underlying systems are out of balance.
And it takes time to reset and revitalize those foundational aspects of your body that are driving your symptoms. That’s why we utilize a program-based model of care.
Doing programs allows us to really understand what is going on with your system and gives you the time it takes to actually change your health in a sustainable and long term manner.
Our programs include nutrition, targeted supplementation, lifestyle strategies and ongoing health coaching. We give you the insight, support and structure needed to transform your health.
WHAT OUR PATIENTS SAY
Hear directly from patients about their experience working with our team.
★★★★★
“I just completed the 6 month program with Thrive Naturopathic, and I feel like a completely different person. Before starting, I was struggling just to get through the day, low energy, constant brain fog, and ongoing digestive issues had put my life on pause. I could hardly function, and it felt like no one truly understood what I was going through.
Working with Thrive changed everything. Their naturopaths truly took the time to get to the root cause of my issues, not just mask the symptoms. I’ve learned how to take better care of myself in a way that feels sustainable and supportive of my long term health. Now, I move through my days with so much more energy and clarity. My digestion has improved drastically, and I finally feel like myself again.
I’m beyond grateful for Thrive Naturopathic. They care deeply and it shows. This program was one of the best decisions I’ve made for my health and well being.”
— Sophie H., Google Review
READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
Find out whether our approach is right for you with a free 15-minute Discovery Call.
Visiting our mcLean office
Our McLean office is conveniently located in downtown McLean, in a quiet, well-maintained professional park with easy access from the surrounding area.
Thrive Naturopathic
1489 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 303
McLean, VA, 22101
(571) 556-9192
Free parking is available just outside the building. Our office is located one flight up from the main entrance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rather than relying on isolated visits or one-time recommendations, our programs allow us to work with you over time. This gives us the opportunity to develop a comprehensive, individualized plan, monitor your progress and make adjustments as your health changes — with ongoing guidance and support throughout the process.
If you want to get to the root of your health issues and have long-term improvement, it involves changing underlying patterns in your body – including the nervous and immune systems, hormones and more. These patterns don’t change overnight and they are transformed in a dynamic process that requires modifying and refining treatments and lifestyle measures along the way.
This cannot be accomplished in a single visit or even several intermittent visits – adjustments need to be made on a fairly regular basis, particularly in the first 6 months or so.
Many seemingly unrelated symptoms can have common underlying factors. We look closely at the fundamental systems that influence how well your body functions and adapts — particularly the nervous system and stress response, immune system, hormones and the gut (digestive tract). By improving the health and resilience of these systems, we can address more than individual symptoms and work toward better overall health.
Take for instance, hormones. Hormones have some degree of automaticity, but the primary drivers of hormonal balance are more fundamental systems. Hormone signaling starts in the brain. These signals prompt hormone production by glands (e.g. thyroid, adrenals, ovaries). Hormones then move through the blood stream and are eventually processed (for either excretion or re-circulation) by bacteria in the gut and also by the liver. Therefore, to balance your hormones you need to balance the nervous system/stress response, the gut/microbiome and the liver.
Yes. We offer both in-person and virtual appointments, depending on the type of appointment and your individual needs.
Most people do some in-person and some virtual, though it can be done entirely virtually if you need.
No. Our services are not covered by health insurance – either in or out of network. However, HSA and FSA funds can be used.
Our programs are designed to provide a level of time, attention and comprehensive care that generally isn’t possible within the traditional insurance-based model. This allows us to look more deeply at your health, develop an individualized plan and provide the ongoing guidance and support needed to make meaningful, lasting changes
The first step is a free 15-minute Discovery Call with our team. We’ll learn a little about what’s been going on, answer your questions and help you determine whether our approach may be a good fit.
Ready to Understand What's Really Driving Your Health?
If you’ve been searching for answers and haven’t found lasting solutions, our team is here to help. Through our comprehensive, program-based approach we work to identify and address the underlying factors affecting your health so you can get back to living your best life!
Meet Dr. Christopher Johnson
Dr. Christopher Johnson is a naturopathic doctor and founder of Thrive Naturopathic in Alexandria and McLean, Virginia. Over the past 18+ years, he has worked with more than 3,000 patients, with a focus on midlife hormone health, metabolic and stress-related health concerns using functional medicine.
His approach helps patients better understand and address the patterns behind their symptoms through structured, systems-based care.
Former Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine and former Vice President of the Virginia Association of Naturopathic Physicians.