If you are looking for a naturopathic clinic in Gilbert you will find plenty of them, and most describe themselves in almost the same words. Root cause. Whole person. Personalized care. All of it reads alike, and none of it tells you the thing you actually need to know, which is whether this person is going to take you seriously.
Most people who call us have already seen somebody else about this. Sometimes several somebodies. They have been told their labs are normal and they still feel terrible, and by the time they are comparing clinics they mostly want to know whether anyone is going to keep looking.
So here is what we would actually screen for, starting with the part that matters most and is hardest to judge from a search results page.
Six things worth checking before you book your first appointment:
- Read the Google reviews, and read the actual sentences, not the star rating
- Read the doctor’s bio to get a sense of who you would be sitting with
- Ask how much experience they have with your particular problem
- Pay attention to the front desk, because that is the clinic’s communication style
- Ask the people you trust whether they have seen anyone here
- Make sure the cost works long enough for you to finish the plan
What actually separates one naturopathic doctor from another
Here is how it works with us. The first visit runs 75 minutes. We ask about symptoms you might not think to mention on your own, and we go through your labs with you in the room rather than sending a portal message a week later. Then we decide the next step together, out loud, with you weighing in. You leave with a plan you helped build, not one handed to you on the way out.
Greg came to us after his primary care doctor’s first suggestion for his anxiety and sleep problems was medication, with side effects he wasn’t ready to take on. He and his wife Debbie reached out to several clinics. We were the one that called them back. Greg spent over an hour with his doctor at that first visit, which is simply how long our first visits run. Debbie later put the change simply:
“She’s giving me my husband back.”
Debbie, on Greg’s treatment at Onyx
Ask any clinic you’re considering: Who do I contact between visits if something changes? Will the same doctor see me next time? How involved will I actually be in deciding what we try next?
Read Greg and Debbie’s full story.
1. Read the Google reviews, and actually read them
Reviews can tell you more about a clinic than the star rating ever will. The rating tells you patients are generally satisfied. The reviews tell you why, in their own words.
Onyx currently holds a rating close to 5 stars across more than 200 Google reviews. Here’s some of what patients are actually saying:
“I’ve been working with Dr. Stephanie for almost 2 years and she’s been the best doctor I’ve ever had. She’s so understanding and truly cares about her patients. She’s very knowledgeable, patient and supportive. My health and mental health have improved drastically and I couldn’t have done it without her! Thank you so much for giving me my life back, Dr. Stephanie!”
Taylor R., Google review
“Dr. Chelsea has been great to work with this past year. She really listens to everything I explain to her. Her ability to ask the right questions of me in order for her to have an accurate picture of my health is comprehensive. … I feel much like my old self, my health has improved and my quality of life is better than it has been for years.”
Vicki V., Google review
“Very quiet comfortable and staff is like family. Service was great. Explained everything and answered questions before I could ask.”
Jacob A., Google review
When you’re reading reviews for any clinic you’re considering, look past the star rating for the same things: Do people mention feeling rushed, or the opposite? Do they name a specific doctor, or is it vague? Do the details sound like something that actually happened to them, or something anyone could have written?
Read more Google reviews for Onyx.
2. Read the doctor’s bio before you pick one
The doctor you’ll be seeing matters more than the clinic’s marketing. Take some time to read their bio, not for the credential list, but for who they are and why they do this work.
Dr. Stephanie Nichols came to naturopathic medicine after seeing how much food choices shape chronic disease, and now focuses on helping women work through anxiety, chronic stress, and hormone imbalances. Dr. Chelsea Deveson left a corporate career for more direct, personal work with patients, and builds highly individualized plans that explain the why behind each recommendation. Dr. Kasey looks at how hormones, digestion, and thought patterns connect, combining conventional medicine with natural therapies depending on what a patient needs.
That’s more useful than a credential list for deciding who’s the right fit for you.
You can read about the doctors at Onyx on the doctor bios page, including Dr. Chelsea Deveson, Dr. Stephanie Nichols, and Dr. Kasey Nichols.
What does NMD mean?
In Arizona, naturopathic doctors who use the NMD designation are licensed by the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board.
Naturopathic doctors complete a four-year accredited program and are licensed to order laboratory testing and prescribe within their scope of practice.
This is the distinction worth knowing before you book anywhere. A naturopathic doctor is licensed. A “naturopath” may not be. The second word is not protected in every state, so it can describe someone with a medical education and someone with an online certificate equally well. In Arizona the licensed title is NMD, the board publishes who holds it, and only that person can order your labs and write you a prescription. If a website says naturopath and never says NMD or ND, that is worth a question.
A license is important, but it’s only one part of choosing a doctor. Reading their bio, and getting a sense of how they communicate, will tell you a lot more about whether they’re the right fit for you.
3. Ask how much experience they have with your problem
Years in practice matter, and they are not the whole story. A newer doctor working alongside an experienced team can be excellent. What you are really trying to find out is how often they see your particular problem, and what they do when it does not behave.
So ask the harder version: what happens when the answer is not obvious? Plenty of clinics are good with the straightforward case. Far fewer stay interested once it stops fitting the pattern.
That is the part we care most about. An unusual case here means more digging rather than a referral out the door, and it means your doctor reading up on your situation between visits instead of waiting for the next appointment to start thinking about it. If you have already been passed between specialists without an answer, that is the thing to screen for.
4. Pay attention to the front desk
Your experience with a clinic starts before you meet the doctor. Call, or send the booking form, and notice what comes back. Clear and helpful, or vague and generic? You will be dealing with these people about records, lab results, billing and scheduling for as long as you are a patient.
It is also the part patients tell us about first. Our reviews mention the front desk and the team more often than they mention any treatment, usually some version of feeling welcomed rather than processed. The office you walk into sets your expectations for everything after it, and a practice that treats the first phone call as an interruption will usually treat the rest of your care the same way.
5. Ask the people you trust
If anyone you know in Gilbert has seen a naturopathic doctor, ask them how it went. Did they feel comfortable? Did the doctor listen? Was the plan explained in a way that made sense? A friend who was treated for something close to your own problem is the most useful opinion you can get, and it is the one thing on this list a website cannot fake.
6. Make sure the cost works long enough to finish
This is the one people skip, and it is the one that ends treatment early. Naturopathic care is rarely a single appointment, so the number that matters is not the first visit, it is what the next six months look like.
No insurance company in Arizona lets naturopathic doctors join its network, so no ND in this state can bill insurance directly. Every naturopathic clinic here is self-pay, us included. Many accept HSA or FSA funds, and lab work run through an outside laboratory is often covered by your plan.
Ask any clinic what the initial visit costs, what a follow-up costs, how often they expect to see you at first, and whether supplements are required or optional. Nobody can quote you an exact lab bill before they know which labs you need, and a clinic that pretends otherwise is guessing.
Pick the clinic you can afford to stay with long enough for the plan to work. That is usually not the cheapest one on your list.
What to expect at your first visit
Naturopathic clinics generally book more time for a first appointment than a standard primary care visit. At Onyx it is 75 minutes, which is long enough to get through your history without anyone watching the clock.
Two things are worth asking before you book anywhere: how long the first visit runs, and whether you should send your previous labs and records ahead. You should leave that visit understanding what the doctor thinks is going on and what happens next.
Putting it all together
Most of this comes down to one question you cannot answer from a website: does this person actually want to figure you out?
You will know inside the first visit. You will know from whether they ask what you think is going on, whether they stay interested when the easy answer does not fit, and whether the plan you leave with is one you helped build.
Start with the reviews. Read the bios. Ask about experience and cost, because the plan only works if you can afford to finish it. Then pay attention to how it feels: are you being listened to, or processed?
That last part is what our patients keep coming back to. Not the credentials, though there are three licensed NMDs here and more than 200 Google reviews. What they mention is being believed the first time they explained it, and having someone still working on it when the first answer did not hold.
You can meet the Onyx physicians to learn more about their backgrounds or book a consultation to see if it feels like the right fit.
Book a consultation or meet the Onyx physicians
Frequently asked questions
Who is the best naturopathic doctor in Gilbert, AZ?
There is no single best one, and any clinic that tells you otherwise is selling. There is a best one for your problem. Work through the six things above, weight the reviews and the doctor’s own bio most heavily, and pick the person whose approach sounds like what you actually need. At Onyx that is three licensed NMDs with different clinical focuses, so the fit question here is usually which doctor rather than which clinic.
What are the warning signs of a naturopathic clinic to avoid?
The most useful one is in the reviews, and it is a pattern rather than a single review. A run of detailed negative reviews that read like real patient experiences, describing the same problem in different words, is telling you something. One or two angry outliers is just a business with customers.
The rest are easier to spot. Be cautious about a clinic that:
- Guarantees results, or promises a specific number of pounds or weeks
- Says one treatment or one supplement handles many unrelated conditions
- Pushes an expensive supplement package before anyone has properly evaluated you
- Will not explain what things cost
- Discourages you from working with your primary care doctor or your specialists
None of these automatically make a clinic wrong for you. All of them are worth raising before you hand over a card.
How much does it cost to see a naturopathic doctor in Gilbert?
It varies by clinic, and the first visit is only part of it. Ask what the initial appointment costs, what follow-ups cost, and how often the clinic expects to see you in the first six months. Onyx is self-pay, booking takes a deposit, and you get an itemized breakdown at your consultation. Call us at (480) 531-2557 and we will talk you through it before you book.
Do naturopathic doctors in Gilbert take insurance?
None of them can. No insurance provider in Arizona allows naturopathic doctors in network, so every ND in the state is self-pay, including us. HSA and FSA funds usually work, and lab work run through an outside laboratory is often covered by your plan.
How long should a first naturopathic appointment be?
Long enough to get your whole history out. Most naturopathic clinics book 60 to 90 minutes for a new patient, which is what separates it from a standard primary care slot. At Onyx the first visit is 75 minutes.
Can a naturopathic doctor order laboratory tests in Arizona?
Yes. Licensed naturopathic physicians can order laboratory testing within their scope of practice. Which tests make sense depends on your symptoms, your history and what a physical exam turns up, so a good clinic will tell you why it is ordering something before it orders it.
Do I need a referral to see a naturopathic doctor in Gilbert?
No. You can contact a naturopathic clinic directly and book. You do not need your primary care doctor to send you.
Can a naturopathic doctor be my primary care doctor?
Some Arizona naturopathic physicians do broader primary care. Others concentrate on specific areas such as hormones, thyroid, digestion or metabolic health. Ask the individual physician what they cover and how they coordinate with conventional primary care. Onyx sits on the focused end of that range.
What is the difference between a naturopathic doctor and a naturopath?
A naturopathic doctor is licensed. A naturopath may not be. In Arizona the licensed title is NMD, it requires a four-year accredited program and a state board exam, and only a licensed physician can order your labs or write you a prescription. The word naturopath is not protected everywhere, so it can describe either. If a website uses it and never mentions NMD or ND, ask.
Why do people choose Onyx Integrative over other naturopathic clinics in Gilbert?
Patients who switch to Onyx usually point to the same thing: they feel like a person, not a chart number. Appointments run long enough to actually explain what’s going on, labs get reviewed together instead of relayed in a portal message, and the treatment plan is something you help decide, not something you’re handed. Onyx also offers care from three licensed NMDs and has more than 200 Google reviews describing that same experience.
You can read a few of those reviews or meet the physicians to see if it sounds like the right fit for you.
Last reviewed August 2026 by Dr. Stephanie Nichols, NMD.
