Spotlight on Dave Hagen
January 1, 2012

“Teamwork and partnership” appears to be the AZ Spotlight theme for the first quarter of 2012, beginning with Dave Hagen’s Focus for Life Naturopathic Medical Center.  Doctor Dave started Focus for Life four years ago as a “one man show” which now has grown to a staff of five doctors, five therapists, two office staff and a medical assistant.

Dave Hagen came to Arizona initially searching for assistance during some dark days in his life.  He had a corporate career then, but his wife had cancer while pregnant, and natural alternatives were not available in North Virginia where they lived. He moved to Arizona in 1998 to train at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.  Although too late to help his wife, Dave graduated medical school and became part of the full time faculty at SCNM teaching the basic sciences of anatomy, physiology and embryology, while also starting his medical practice part-time.  In October of 2008, he left the college to pursue his practice full-time.

Arizona has been a great inspiration for Dave. “He should work for the tourism board,” his staff vouches.  Dave was raised in a military family and lived 16 different places while growing up, but Phoenix was one of the best places for him. “People pray to go to heaven,” smiles Dave, “but we already live in Paradise – Paradise Valley, that is.”  

As part of his training, he studied medicinal plants of the desert southwest. Using information gleaned from the diaries of Franciscan priests who lived with the natives of the Sonoran desert, Dave began “to see history not as the story of politics and war, but through the eyes of medicine.  This history showed the universal need for medicine, which can be a unifying force in this world. In fact, the need for medicine not only crosses geographic boundaries -- it crosses the boundaries of time itself.  Of course, the best medicine is naturopathic medicine.”

From that research, Dave decided he was going to contribute to world peace by “spreading the good news about naturopathy and healing – to bring about world peace one naturopathic visit at a time.  When we bring peace to the inner body, then the person can bring peace to their immediate surroundings.  It just spreads.”

Dave is most proud of Focus for Life’s Environmental Detox Center. “I was trained by the best, Dr. Walter Crinnion,” explains Dave.  “Our center is modeled after his in Washington State. It’s one of only two places in Arizona where you can get a comprehensive environmental detox program. It’s life-changing.  You can regain your health.  You can turn back your biological clock to a time when you were feeling good and energetic.  It’s a path to regain the joy in your life.”

Dave is super enthusiastic about the effectiveness of the Detox Center, and has many personal stories about the changes those treatments have made in patients’ lives.  “We had one patient who had to be carried in.  He couldn’t walk or talk.  When he left, he walked out talking.”

Dave explains that their detoxification process is much different from the “cleanses” available in health food stores.  “We use specialized nutrients to help the body transform toxins and eliminate them.  It’s a little like wringing out a sponge.  It enhances the body’s ability to do what it was meant to do and begin the restoration process.”  Results from as little as one week of treatment can be gastro-intestinal healing, reduction of aches and pains, glowing healthy skin, restoration of energy, improved liver function, relief from chemical sensitivities, heightened memory, mood stabilization and the release of depression and anxiety.  “Friends or family have said to patients, ‘You’re back!  You were gone and now you’re back again’!”

The doctors at the Focus for Life Environmental Detox Center treat the whole person and not the disease; they focus on the cure and not just the symptoms.  They believe that part of their role is to be experts on physiology “to understand and restore the functions of the organs causing a symptom like a headache instead of just treating the pain.”  They also have experience in coaching, counseling and energetic therapies as well as homeopathy that allow them to treat the whole person.  “Usually doctors tell their patients what to do rather than coach them into wellness.  We have the systems in place here to actually address personal issues such as sex life, occupation, and emotional health in addition to their physical problems.”

Dave would like other doctors and health practitioners to see Focus for Life as a “destination for healing” woven into the fabric of the community.  “The Environmental Detox Center treatment is like taking the wax off the floor so you can clean it,” explains Dave. “Going through the detox process will make other therapies more effective.  Our treatment can enhance what other doctors and therapists are already doing.”  He is so convinced that spreading the good news of detox is important that the Focus for Life center is initiating a “Detox with the Doctor” program on January 11th at 6:30 pm.  There is space for 25 participants (12 are already reserved) so that patients and doctors can “share their stories,” and yes, the doctors will be going through the detox program, too.

What are some things about Dave that most people don’t know?  Dave used to be a Jazzercise instructor and found it a wonderful way to move the body.  He taught group aerobics, too, but the music for aerobics is standardized and homogenized, while Jazzercise uses “real music” so people get more excited about it.  Dave is still a music lover.  “I like to listen to Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber even without my kids,” he admits.  Dave has four children. “Three boys and a princess,” he jokes.

What would Dave have for his last meal on the planet?  He confesses to have been something of a social butterfly in medical school.  It seems he was the organizer of an ongoing “healthy foods potluck”.  So, for his last supper, he’d get together with his friends to “break bread and celebrate our friendship and life.”  For this feast, he would contribute two specialties.  First he would make a batch of his own salsa.  And secondly, he would create the “Dave-a-Rita.”  “It’s my own tropical fruit margarita,” he explains. “People look forward to it.”

Focus for Life also emphasizes a warm and friendly approach to health care.  Dave says he’s on a “hugging basis with 95% of his patients (the others just want a handshake).”  He also supports the spiritual lives of their patients.  “Research shows,” says Dave, “that patients with belief systems usually have better outcomes and a stronger community of support.  Usually that kind of support isn’t available at a doctor’s office, but it’s totally available here.”

Both Dave and the doctors at Focus for Life encourage AZHCC members to come in and discuss their patient options free of charge.  “We talk about what changes the client wants to make and what their investment will be.  Then we come up with an agreement.”  He also adds, “You can’t change a patient’s life by dictating to them. You have to help them have fun when they’re stuck in their lives.”

If starting the New Year with an internal “house cleaning” sounds like a good idea or if you’d just like to explore some options for feeling younger and more energetic, make an appointment to sit down with Dr. Dave or any of the other doctors at Focus for Life and explore the possibilities. If you are a health practitioner, you might also want to find out about “Detox with the Doctors” or other ways that Focus for Life can dovetail with your own practice.  Contact them at 480-553-5200 or check out the website at www.naturopathscottsdale.com.  And say hello to Dave at the next AZHCC gathering.  Maybe you can even get him to share his “Dave-a-Rita” recipe.