Dr. Cathy Head

Dr. Cathy Head is a solo integrative medicine practice in Charlotte, North Carolina, led by Cathy Head, DNP, ANP-BC, a board-certified adult nurse practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice. The practice falls under the Holistic and Integrative category and takes a root-cause approach to identifying the early onset and underlying drivers of chronic illness.

CIRS is a dedicated specialty of the practice and a strong point of relevance for The Filtery’s Non-Toxic Directory. Dr. Head follows Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker’s twelve-step treatment protocol for biotoxin illness, which has been used for over 25 years to treat CIRS. The protocol begins with removing patients from toxin exposure, reducing inflammation and biotoxins, and sequentially addressing damage from the inflammatory cascade. Diagnosis involves a thorough clinical history, Visual Contrast Screening (VCS), laboratory blood work for inflammatory and immunologic markers, genetic predisposition testing including HLA-DR, and the GENIE genomic expression test, which differentiates between toxins from tick-borne illness, bacteria, and mycotoxins. The practice also provides a detailed patient education page explaining how mold and biotoxin exposure affect hormones, the nervous system, oxygen levels, and metabolism. karendjohnsonmd

Additional specialty areas include thyroid disorders, autoimmune illness, fatigue, stress and adrenal function, weight management, and long COVID spike protein issues. Both in-person appointments in Charlotte and telehealth options are available. The website has a dedicated Private Pay and Insurance page for patients to review financial details. A free discovery call is not explicitly mentioned, but appointment scheduling is available directly on the website.