Looking for a Practitioner to Help with Copper Toxicity?
This page offers important considerations and questions to ask
Since launching the www.coppertoxic.com website in 2014 and leading the way in bringing copper toxicity awareness and education to the world over the past decade, it's great to see the increasing number of practitioners now talking about copper toxicity and adding copper toxicity support to their services. However, like with any profession, experience matters!
Having helped train many hundreds of today's HTMA and copper-literate practitioners, this is, of course, the very work I specialize in (my HTMA service menu is available here). However, as I only have limited hours each day and run an extremely busy practice in addition to all my time involved in advocacy, research, and education projects, I'm happy to offer options to people looking for qualified practitioners. (As I receive countless patient cases landing on my desk previously under the care of someone else who were not properly helped, or who ordered the wrong type of HTMA because they assumed all hair analysis was the same, I care that people receive qualified support and guidance from the start. There is, unfortunately, a lot of 'nonsense' being promoted online, especially when it comes to HTMA and addressing copper toxicity).
No matter who you choose to work with, whether myself or anyone else, this page provides basic yet important considerations to keep in mind (and to ask) when choosing a practitioner.
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Do they use HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis)?
- If so, are they testing through one of the top labs that specialize in HTMA, either TEI or ARL? (not all hair analysis services are the type needed for understanding copper toxicity. Frequently, people order the wrong type of HTMA, assuming all hair analysis is the same. It is not, and this ends up causing so much confusion.)
- What is the practitioner's training in HTMA interpretation? Who did they learn from?
- How many HTMAs have they interpreted? (HTMA interpretation is highly complex and takes years of experience and practice to master. Simply being ‘certified’ in HTMA is not qualification enough. Have they worked on 100's of HTMAs? Anything less than 100 could still be considered apprenticeship/practice).
- Are they able to interpret HTMA data from a wide range of labs & formats? (A qualified practitioner will be able to answer yes)
- Is their service focused more on passing along automated reports? (HTMA test results and automated reports offer people a place to start, but the real value comes from professional interpretation that looks at each person as an individual).
- When reviewing charts, are they considering mineral loss patterns and what factors do they use to assess those patterns? (Some practitioners -those without proper training - simply read charts at face value, assuming a high level means "high in the body", or a low level always means low. This is not how HTMA works!)
- How are they addressing the effect of medications on a person’s mineral chart?
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How many years experience?
- How many years of experience do they have specifically working in practice with other copper toxicity patients?
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Are they looking beyond just copper?
- How are they measuring and addressing the other mineral imbalances that excess copper leads to? (Some practitioners are focused on just "detoxing copper". However, even with copper toxicity, it is never just about trying to detox copper by itself).
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How personalized is their protocol and their attention to each person's bio-individual situation?
- Are they promoting a one-size-fits-all protocol as opposed to one designed for a person’s unique bioindividuality, symptoms, etc?
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Do they have significant conflicts of interest?
- Are there any conflicts of interest with the products they promote? (If the majority of the program/protocol they create for you is pushing one brand / product line, there is likely a strong commission incentive for them to sell those products. This adds a degree of bias, and limits you (the patient) from other products in the marketplace which may actually be better suited. Some practitioners tell their patients they need to take certain supplements, and then recommend a catalog of products from either their own company or a brand with which they are affiliated with. While an occasional incentivized recommendation may certainly be valid and fair, the bulk of any protocol ideally should not be profit driven in favor of the practitioner).
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Are they able to explain the mental health connections to HTMA patterns?
- Are they well versed in how mineral imbalances such as a calcium shell, zinc deficiency, excess copper, high Na/K ratio etc can affect mental health? What is their training in this regard? Who were they trained by?
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How do they adjust recommendations between overt vs hidden copper toxicity?
- Are they recognizing, and then adapting their treatment protocol accordingly between hidden copper toxicity and overt copper toxicity, and if so how?
Said another way, watch out for these red flags:
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Reliance only on the blood level while ignoring or dismissing HTMA (cell and tissue levels)
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A focus on just trying to "detox" or lower copper without considering the body's complete mineral profile.
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Product recommendations that come mainly all from the same company or are $ incentivized (conflict of interest).
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Reading chart results at face value, or relying solely on lab recommendations without considering individual symptoms, medications, health history, etc.
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Pitting the ARL lab against the TEI lab as if one is superior, rather than recognizing the advancements and benefits offered by both labs. Both of these labs have brought key advancements to HTMA and are at the forefront of the HTMA testing and nutritional balancing fields.
Specializing in copper toxicity for the past decade, I’ve worked with many thousands of patients and have trained many of today’s HTMA and copper literate practitioners. While I continue to work with new clients, there are certainly other excellent practitioners out there for you to choose from as well. I am familiar with most of those who’d be considered as qualified. However, I am also aware of many who are making claims of healing or expertise, or who promote HTMA services that I think warrant a lot more caution. My career has been dedicated to advancing education and awareness of copper toxicity and advocating for industry integrity of authentic HTMA (www.htmavirtualsummit.com) and I deeply care that, no matter who a person chooses to work with, they receive correct advice and qualified guidance.
Whoever you work with, make sure they are truly experienced. How they answer the above questions will tell you a lot. Also remember, most HTMA practitioners are well equipped to work remotely. In that sense, more important than geographic location is working with whomever you feel most comfortable with.
Wishing you success in your healing journey!
Rick Fischer
Founder of www.CopperToxic.com
Leading Copper Toxicity Researcher, Nutrition Instructor, Clinical HTMA Practitioner, HTMA Instructor
PS: You can explore our various HTMA Service Advantages and what sets us apart, at www.mineralsandhealth.com/advantage
While You're Here... Grab the Free eBook on COPPER TOXICITY
This free eBook, written by one of the world's foremost experts on the topic, includes an introduction to copper toxicity and how to detox, addresses important misconceptions, and provides a basis for getting the support you need for healing.
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