Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliann Abecassis, Clinic Director of Balanced Healing of Jacksonville.
Hi Juliann, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Of course! As you already know, my name is Juliann Abecassis. I’m the Clinic Director and Founder of Balanced Healing of Jacksonville, an integrative wellness practice in Southside Jacksonville. Additionally, I am one of Mayo Clinic’s acupuncture physicians where I work part time.
Originally, my plan was not to go into functional, integrative or holistic medicine. In my undergrad, I was studying premed in my and working at Memorial hospital as a CNA, my entire college career was in preparation for going to medical school. Life has a funny way of working out – I realized during my time working in the hospital that I was on the wrong side of medicine.
I wanted to pursue a career in medicine that would allow me to prevent others from ending up in the hospital with chronic disease, vs. the person acutely treating disease in the hospital. That experience changed my entire career path. I ended up getting my master’s degree in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and focused on an integrative and functional medicine approach to healing upon graduation.
In 2015, I got an internship in Jacksonville, FL, which is how I ended up in the Bold City. I was fresh out of school and eager to learn more so I packed up my life and moved to Jacksonville.
Not long after my internship wrapped up, Balanced Healing of Jacksonville opened its doors and from there it’s really just taken off. In just five years, we’ve made an extraordinary reputation for ourselves. It grew from a one-room office to us owning our own office building, and hiring two other practitioners and a front desk team!
I continue to hold the same values that I started the practice with: To give those who are hopeless in their healing journey renewed hope and to always treat patients like they’re my family. To this day many of my very first patients back in 2016 continue to work with us, as we provide care to their spouses, children, or relatives.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is never a smooth road, but it’s the bumps that really humble us, challenge us and show us how strong we really are.
At the time of opening my own practice, I was dealing with a chronic illness myself. I was diagnosed with severe endometriosis which often meant I’d have to call out of work throughout the month, often with little to no warning. Because my pain from Endometriosis was so severe I often ended up in the hospital on a morphine drip. Endometriosis is now starting to gain awareness, but typically it takes 7-10 years on average for a woman to reach a diagnosis, and most women go through several specialists and doctors before reaching a diagnosis.
It was difficult for me to have to call out of the office when my schedule was so busy. It often felt like a self-betrayal, I had the drive to work, a packed schedule of patients to see, and yet sometimes my body would just put a hard-stop on me being able to do so.
Ultimately I ended up getting a much needed surgery, but due to complications, I was out on medical leave for nine months. By the time I was able to come back to work, Covid hit.
Being out for so long and then dealing with an unprecedented pandemic felt like an impossible obstacle to overcome. But by the grace of God, we continued to thrive. We continue to grow in momentous ways and I feel like when things are meant to be, the universe finds a way to support you through the hardships.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Balanced Healing of Jacksonville is an integrative and functional medicine office where we focus on finding the root cause of your health ailments so healing can occur.
We specialize in:
-Mycotoxin and Mold Illness
-Stealth Pathogens (such EBV, Lyme, and Co-Factors)
-Mysterious Illness (this is when someone says “I’ve been to every doctor, had every test, and everything keeps coming back as ‘normal’ but I’ve been sick for XYZ years and I know something is wrong”
-Gut disorders
-Hormone Imbalance
-Stress
We have a team of two acupuncture physicians and a naturopathic doctor, and we are known for being able to finally find the reason why someone is sick so we can finally get answers and start the healing process.
We do not have a one-size-fits-all protocol. We spend a tremendous amount of time with you in your initial session to understand everything you’ve gone through, review all your relevant labs, discuss what worked and what didn’t, and put together a timeline of your illness and symptoms. We also discuss what your goals are for your health. With all of that we are able to create a hyper-individualistic protocol to get the root of your ailments and support you in healing.
We are extremely proud of how many people we have helped. Balanced Healing’s goal is to empower you to become your own health advocate, so not only do we help bring you back to a place of balance, but we teach you how to stay there. Education is a big part of what we do.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I hate to say this but I’ve been here for six years and STILL can’t figure out the road systems here. If I leave the house without a GPS (aka if my phone dies), I’m not coming back. I’ll be lost forever.
Where Jacksonville lacks in a cohesive road system, they make up for in pride. Jacksonville loves to support local small businesses, I think that’s extremely unique to our city and I just love it. We have a lot of Jax pride and we’re excited to be a part of this amazing community.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.BalancedHealingofJacksonville.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/healingofjax/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@balancedhealing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalancedHealingofJacksonville
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOphP9mKfSYft5Q3s3_d20A
