Welcome to the GEMC Family!
When people walk into our office for the first time, almost everyone says, “This is not what I expected. I’m so surprised! I was expecting a regular doctor’s office. It’s so peaceful here. I can feel the love, and the energy is so relaxing!”
We designed and cultivated our space with YOUR healing in mind!
When you sign up as a patient, you join the GEMC family. You will have a team behind you, supporting and cheering you on, celebrating your successes, and navigating any setbacks. Knowing there are doctors who care about you on a personal and health-oriented level is a feeling like no other.
When you come in, it’s like coming home to a safe, nurturing, open-minded place filled with genuine compassion and spiritual and energetic awareness. GEMC is a place where space will be held for you, where you as a person will be seen, heard, and fully acknowledged as the gift you truly are. We already love you.
We mean it when we say we’ve got your back. We do everything we can to advocate for our patients to other doctors, help form care teams, and check out referral sources. Receiving the care you need and deserve is our top priority.
At GEMC, we walk our talk!
While working with us, you will feel our authenticity in every interaction. Our attention stays with you the entire time you are in our office, as we warmly greet you for your visit, during the visit time we spend with you, and at the end when we hug you and express our delight with your progress (if you are virtual, we send emojis).
We value your time. Whether your visit is 20 minutes or three hours, we will listen to your concerns and check in with how you feel because you matter to us. When you show up for your appointment, you’ll rarely have to wait, and it’s usually five minutes at most – hard to imagine at a medical visit, but it’s true!
You may have your visit sitting in a chair talking or lying on a treatment table receiving hands-on therapy, but before we get started, know that we will connect with you. No matter your treatment, we strive to understand that day’s concerns. We know that life is ever-changing, so your symptoms might change too.
You are in experienced hands.
Your sessions will be gentle and guided by our professional intuition (education and experience in medicine + energetic awareness and spiritual guidance). We will always consider your body’s energetic feedback as your treatments progress.
We aim to find the sweet spot to gain momentum while respecting the pace you require for healing. Therefore, we will seek your verbal feedback and communication to help refine your plan and direction as you continue improving. You’re an active participant in your health; we are here to guide you.
We’re excited to welcome new patients to GEMC! We invite you to experience our unique approach to medicine for yourself.
Here’s a visual we made for you!
If it isn’t apparent already, we are unlike any other doctors. For the visual learner, we outlined our dynamic, whole-being healthcare approach to show how we stand apart.
Our “Components of the Whole Person” visual shows you the different areas that make up a person. When you look at the graphic, you’ll see seven distinct parts. Each of those parts has a specific purpose, but they work together and are inextricably linked, meaning you cannot separate one from the other.
Because you can’t separate parts of yourself, you can’t ignore most of them or only treat one area and expect to get 100% better or have your symptoms disappear forever. It’s like if you were in a car accident and had a bunch of injuries, the ER doctor wouldn’t only fix your broken bones without tending your cuts, brain bleeds, torn muscles, or other internal injuries because then only your bones would heal properly.
You’d only feel so much better until the other issues are addressed. You can reach complete healing by recognizing and addressing all seven components of you as a person.
Our model will shift the future of medicine.
Look at the image, and you can see the three general approaches or models for healthcare.
The most common model you’re likely to have experienced is the conventional Western model, which focuses primarily on your physical symptoms and touches on mental health with psychiatry and talk therapy. They also rely heavily on drugs that can impact the physical and mental parts of you.
Then, we have the alternative and holistic model, which integrates five of the body’s components. Physical health is still the largest focus addressed by this model. Supplements, herbs, vitamins, diet, and exercises all address the physical body. Although they do more with the emotions, pain body, bioenergetic, and mental components than the conventional model, they typically don’t include the spiritual and ancestral components.
If you look at our model in the third pie chart, you’ll see that we consider all seven components equally. We review all of them, see where and how they connect, and address issues in each one.
In some sessions, we may focus only on one component that is calling for attention. Then, at the next visit, a couple of the other areas might be more prominent, and sometimes, they all get worked on equally. No matter what, we treat you as a whole person, balancing all seven components until they’re in sync and functioning as designed – healthy and self-healing.
Lessons learned guide our philosophy.
When we founded Guiding Elements Medical Center ® (GEMC) in 2019, we wanted it to be a place like no other. In our working life before creating GEMC, we experienced injustices against working mothers, little support for the needs and idea of a family, and in many cases, we found a disingenuous lack of integrity toward giving adequate care.
We had unique gifts and talents we wanted to apply that were often dismissed or under-utilized. At the same time, we received genuine care from fellow employees and learned how to grow as doctors in ways we may not have otherwise. As a result, we combined the best of our experiences and lessons, learned from the worst of them, and added in what we would want as patients, mothers, doctors, and friends. Thus, our vision for the practice was born.
GEMC allowed us to dive fully into our passion as doctors and create a place where we felt excited to work. We designed our office intentionally, and everything, including the room’s colors and hand-crafted décor, evokes a soft, inviting, and peaceful vibe that tells you this is a place to heal.
We constantly fill our clinic with love, support, and hope to make a safe space for those who need it most. Our office was created to feel like a home away from home, so going to “the doctor’s office” (or being the doctor) is a relaxing and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Supporting families and communities is vital.
We care about people first and foremost, especially building and supporting strong communities and families. Family and generational healing are central to society’s lifeblood and our world’s health.
At GEMC, we connect with families and individuals, providing a judgment-free community hub where people can heal and be empowered. We encourage people to share their talents and dreams, transform their minds, body, and spirit, and grow beyond their conscious awareness.
We know that change is needed in the world of medicine. Many people who come to us as patients tell us about their struggles with the current medical system and don’t want band-aids but actual, long-lasting change and honest answers. With this and our own life experiences in mind, we promote a new paradigm of medicine to light the way for the future.
As you saw above in the visual, medicine often fails to explore many parts of us as avenues of healing, but once addressed, they bring the healing full circle. Our model of medicine addresses all aspects of life as integral to health, and we hope that, eventually, every office and hospital practices medicine following this model.
The life and breath of GEMC is our philosophy.
Our mission is to joyfully serve humanity by providing services and information that advance the healing of body, mind, spirit, and soul.
Our vision emphasizes a dedication to promoting a person’s ability to self-heal and flourish. We aid those who are ready to transform their lives. In synergizing energetic, naturopathic, and conventional medicine, we have created a new approach to healing. Using this method, we help people recognize their whole Divine being, remove harmful beliefs and patterns, and facilitate the physical embodiment of their truth. They then have the capacity to self-heal as we were all designed to do.
Our values receive guidance from Divine inspiration and Peace. At GEMC, we invoke Love daily, creating Peace that permeates our practice and cultivates a safe space where we invite you to heal. Through Christ, we are honored to serve you.
Alignment of the Body, Mind, Spirit, and Soul creates the conditions for the highest level of health. GEMC acknowledges that everything in a person’s story and life can affect their health; therefore, we address our patients’ concerns within the context in which they developed.
Patients deserve to hear the Truth, receive Compassion and Respect, live a high Quality, Vibrant life, and receive Unique Solutions to their problems. Therefore, we give our patients detailed information about the factors influencing their health so that they learn to take responsibility for it, and together, we can determine their best path to healing.
Our physicians honor all stages and expressions of healing. We recognize and honor that people’s understanding of the healing process and acceptance of specific treatments differ. We acknowledge individual boundaries and accept people into our care without judgment.
Ensuring the utmost quality of care, GEMC’s physicians provide tools for patients to create space within their lives to become their most vital and vibrant selves. We believe in tailored, ongoing Patient-care relationships, and honor and value the knowledge and energy exchange between doctors and patients. Therefore, we offer a unique approach to health by harnessing the body’s ability to repair itself with the best natural treatments and traditional medicine. We merge new technologies with ancient modalities to create a fusion that will change your healing paradigm.
Meet The Team
Dr. Shanna Bayrd, NMD (Dr. Delight)
When you work with Dr. Delight, you get the best of mind-body-spirit medicine because she is passionate about returning your life energy to you through true self-embodiment. Her intent is to help you become more you, leaving behind any blocks in your way.
She is uniquely equipped to handle the depths of your pain because she has been there herself. Let her guide you back to a feeling of home within yourself with Sovereignty Therapy, a technique she designed to maximize your embodiment results.
When she’s not applying her technique, you can find her at home with her family, camping in nature, or participating in the local Phoenix art and music community.
Dr. Christy Soto-Johnson, NMD (Dr. Christy)
Dr. Christy’s life experiences (severe spinal injury, her mother’s unexplained illness, Mexican-Indigenous teachings, and spiritual gifts) and specialized training led her to create a brand-new healing method.
She learned to integrate naturopathic, bioenergetic, intuitive, and spiritual medicine with hands-on healing. She wholeheartedly supports the transformation of all seven components that make us up, calling her approach Quantum Bodywork.
Dr. Christy loves to share her adventures hiking, traveling with her family, pow wow, and gardening, so feel free to ask questions for veggie and herb planting tips or to see photos anytime!
Dr. Bianca Despotides, NMD (Dr. B)
Since early childhood, Dr. Bianca has been called to Aid in the Healing of Heaven’s People. Her mission is to help enrich and elevate the body, mind, emotions, and soul of her patients using the Art and Science of Naturopathic Medicine. With her treatment style, Primary Care is transformed into Personal Care.
When Dr. B. is not clocked in, family mode is on with her three kids, three dogs, and partner! They love spending time in nature, playing basketball, and going on adventures together.
Ashley Emery, Herbalist, Pelvic Steam Therapist (Ashley)
Ashley is a passionate womb whisperer with an impactful knack for creating a safe space and allowing a person’s true essence to shine.
Learning from influential trailblazers in the field and pursuing extensive certifications has created a deep commitment to balanced, natural, and effective solutions. Ashley believes every person is worthy of feeling safe in their body and authentically heard. Those are many reasons why the tools in her womb-friendly toolbox get results!
When not helping clients achieve reproductive empowerment, Ashley enjoys belly laughs with her daughter, a good book, and cuddling under the stars.
