Dr. Karen Lamb, ND, LPC (She/Her) – Clinical Director
Dr. Lamb was born in Tucson, Arizona and promptly moved with her family to Hermosillo, Mexico where they resided for nine years. At the age of 9, Dr. Lamb returned to the United States, moving first to Crescent City, California, with stops afterwards in Oregon and Washington. Dr. Lamb returned to Tucson, where she finished high school and began her undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona. Here, she obtained Bachelor’s degrees in Spanish Literature and Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Having a physician father introduced Dr. Lamb to the medical profession at a young age, and with his encouragement, she always believed she would become a conventional medical doctor. But, after numerous internships at conventional clinics and emergency rooms, Dr. Lamb found conventional medicine too impersonal. She knew she wanted to develop a relationship with her patients. Dr. Lamb decided to return to school and pursue a degree in Psychology. Psychology provided her with a healing outlet coupled with the interpersonal relationships that were lacking in conventional medicine. Having found her calling, she obtained a Masters degree in Counseling at Arizona State University.
After graduating, Dr. Lamb completed a two year residency program, which focused on Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. It was here that she re-discovered her passion for healing the whole person and, through her clients, observed first hand the close connection between mental, emotional and physical well-being. Although her training allowed for great healing,
Dr. Lamb saw the need for physical interventions in order to address complete wellness. The Doctoral Program at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine provided Dr. Lamb with the additional tools necessary to provide total mind-body health for her patients.
Dr. Lamb’s specialty as a Naturopathic Doctor and Counselor is finding and understanding the root cause of chronic physical and/or psychological diseases. Her practice focuses on supporting the highly sensitive person’s physiological, interpersonal, emotional and energetic needs. As a highly sensitive clinician, Dr. Lamb understands the importance of physical and emotional support to achieve optimal productivity and quality of life She uses natural, safe and effective treatments to unlock the body’s immense potential for regeneration and healing. Her time as a counselor solidified her passion for inspiring and motivating patients to move towards their best health. The underlying goal of every appointment is to seek the most empowering path towards wellness that supports autonomy and success for each individual. Dr. Lamb looks forward to working collaboratively with you to restore emotional and physical well-being and achieving your maximum quality of life.
At Pura Vida Natural Medicine, we all respect the strengths and limitations of different models of medicine, and we are experts at working with highly sensitive people and connecting them to the resources and tools they need for healing. Whether you work with one practitioner or more at Pura Vida Natural Medicine, you will benefit from a wonderful collaboration between Dr. Lamb, Dr. Amin, and Dr. Hebert. We look forward to hearing your full story and supporting you in achieving your best health on every level—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Testimonials from Dr. Lambs clients. If you would like to submit a testimonial, please do so HERE.
“As a healthcare provider, I had a growing sense that while I was able to keenly pinpoint what was going on with a patient, I was lacking the knowledge and training of specific tools necessary to make productive strides in overcoming these obstacles. The DBT course with Dr. Lamb showed up at the right time! Given my previous general understanding of the format of DBT, it was apparent that this course was the answer to my dilemma. While the skills and philosophy of dialectical behavioral therapy are on their own profoundly useful in providing insights for how to help a patient achieve higher levels of emotional regulation and thus a better quality of life, it is Dr. Lamb’s familiarity and expertise with this modality that makes this course worthwhile. Anyone can read a book about DBT; Dr. Lamb’s ability to clarify and extrapolate further on the basics, give real-life case study examples, and provide constructive feedback and homework to course participants in order to facilitate learning and understanding of the material is what bridges the gap between intellectual understanding and experiential knowledge, the latter of which is necessary to present DBT skills to a patient or client in a way that is relatable, relevant, and appropriate. One of my main struggles was knowing when to introduce certain skills and why, because this course is chock-full of information and it was challenging for me to know where to start. Because of Dr. Lamb’s understanding and years of real-world experience with utilizing and implementing DBT in her clinical practice, she was able to provide case studies demonstrating concrete examples of how, when, and why to implement these skills. Because of this course, I not only achieved my goal of learning specific steps to help my patients overcome the obstacles we had identified, but I also encountered personal growth, which is an inevitable and necessary outcome when delving into the topics of DBT, and when working with a skilled doctor and therapist such is Dr. Lamb! She is a wealth of knowledge, an invaluable resource and teacher, and her capacity to hold space for both learning and personal healing is remarkable. I highly recommend this course for anyone who is looking to take their clinical work to the next level, who seek concrete skills to present to patients in a systematic way that will change their lives profoundly, and who are committed to ongoing personal growth and self-exploration in order to be a grounded and healing force in their patient’s lives.”
-EH, ND
Dr. Lamb has significantly improved my life for over a decade. Here is a list of a few examples:
1. I began taking Lexapro when I was 20, and I had Serotonin Syndrome. However, my provider at the time just told me to lower my dose rather than tell me what really happened. It was only through Dr. Lamb that I understood what happened to me. She was able to safely ween me off with support such as vitamin IVs, a series of amino acids, and supplements.
2. When doing blood work, we discovered a genetic abnormality that keeps me from processing folic acid properly. She got me on a supplement to prevent the build up that can cause anxiety.
3. She’s continued to monitor my bloodwork, and she noticed a pattern that made her think I had some GI issues going on. We moved forward with sending off a stool sample for testing, and it revealed I have a gluten sensitivity. At 33, I had lived with this sense of normal for a while. After I removed gluten from my diet, I started to become more aware of other sensitivities. I’ve lost weight and reduced inflammation. It’s helped me realize how important it is to prioritize what I’m putting in my body.
4. Dr. Lamb has also helped me improve my bandwidth. Focusing on my diet and supplements along with adding more movement has allowed me to handle daily stresses much better than I used to. Before, I was easily irritated, and now, the things that used to bother me don’t as much.
There is much more than this, and I wish everyone had a doctor like Karen. This is how medicine should be for everyone!
-KE
I came to Dr. Lamb after a naturopathic doctor that I loved changed her focus. I was worried I wouldn’t find another ND who made me feel as validated and seen. Dr. Lamb has been ABOVE AND BEYOND! From the very beginning, I knew that it was a safe place for me to fully divulge my mental health struggles since Dr. Lamb is also an LPC and has an extensive mental health background. I love that truly addressing issues holistically – mind and body – is a top priority of Pura Vida. I’ve always had the instinct that my anxiety and OCD is fundamentally connected to my biology, and it’s true! Deficiencies, sensitivities, and toxins all play a role in mental health and I feel like Dr. Lamb is the only provider I have who acknowledges these things.
I’m pregnant now, which comes with a LOT of uncertainties. The OBGYN options I have through my insurance have been nothing short of disappointing and I have had basically zero continuity of care with my PCP and other doctors. I can’t express strongly enough how good it feels to have a doctor who not only understands the FULL picture, but is willing to advocate for options that a doctor who spends 10 minutes with me every year would not even consider. I truly feel heard, seen, and validated at the end of every appointment I have with Dr. Lamb and it is such a unique experience that not everyone gets to have.
The level of care and support is absolutely unmatched and I’m so, so thankful to have found Dr. Lamb!
-JE
I am so grateful to have found Dr. Lamb. She introduced me to my HSP self. I never knew that being a highly sensitive person was even a thing until I started working with her. Learning about myself as an HSP has enabled me make sense of who I am, in a way that has slowly helped me feel more empowered. I still have so much more work to do. But the HSP lens is something that I have gained from working with Dr. Lamb and it is invaluable. It is helping me be a better parent to my HSP daughter, to parent her the way I never was parented and deserved to be parented, to break the trauma cycle, and along with my therapist (or other therapist because Dr. Lamb is a naturopath AND a therapist!), slowly have the tools to reparent myself. Thank you, Dr. Lamb.
-SB
This might be a long reply! Lol. Here are a few ways working with Pura Vida has impacted my life.
1) I have become more intune to my body and its needs. My body was speaking to me but I wasn’t paying attention to it. I had migraines frequently, fatigue and anxiety. Now, I feel like I can understand my needs much more and I’m able to support my physical and mental health better than before!
2. When I was newly postpartum, it rocked my and my husband’s worlds. Homeopathy quite literally saved us during that first week of bringing our son home. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Lamb for her support during that incredibly difficult transition into parenthood for 2 sensie people!
-BW