By Dolly Denson, MSN, FNP-BC · Functional Hormone & Gut Health Practitioner

The short answer: A Functional Hormone & Gut Health Practitioner helps you understand how your hormones, metabolism, and gut connect, especially during big transitions like perimenopause and menopause. Instead of looking at one symptom at a time, we look at the whole picture: your history, your daily rhythms, and, when it makes sense, functional testing. The work is education and guided support. It sits alongside your medical care, not in place of it.

Why I use this title

I chose this title carefully.

I've spent more than 30 years in healthcare, including as a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. But the work I do now is different. It's rooted in functional training in hormone health, the gut microbiome, and nutrition, and it's focused on helping women in midlife understand what's changing in their bodies.

"Coach" didn't capture the depth of that training. "Nurse practitioner" describes a medical rol...