What is a naturopathic doctor?

A naturopathic doctor is trained in medical sciences and in functional and integrative approaches to treating the root cause of illness rather than only managing symptoms. In California that includes ordering comprehensive laboratory testing and prescribing within a defined scope, which for me includes bioidentical hormone therapy and GLP-1 medications. What it means practically is that I have more tools than a purely conventional or a purely natural approach would give me, and I use whichever one your situation actually calls for.

Do I have to give up my regular doctor?

No, and most of my patients don’t. I co-manage with primary care, gastroenterology, dermatology, and oncology regularly, and it works well because we’re doing different parts of the same job. I’ll never tell you to come off a medication somebody else prescribed. That’s a conversation with them, and I’m happy to be part of it.

Do you only see women?

No. Most of my practice is women in their forties, fifties, and sixties, and men come to me too, usually for digestion, adrenal health, hair, or testosterone. The approach is the same: test comprehensively, read it together, treat what’s actually driving it.

Do you offer Botox or filler?

No, neither. Not out of opposition, they do what they’re designed to do and plenty of my patients use them elsewhere. My work is on the skin itself, rebuilding collagen and elastin so it’s genuinely different rather than temporarily rearranged. That also means I’ve nothing to sell you in that conversation, so when I recommend something you can take it at face value.

Where should I start?

Wherever feels right. Some women come in because they feel off in their bodies. Some come in because they’re concerned about their skin or how they’re aging. There’s no wrong place to begin. My job isn’t to force a path, it’s to help you understand what your body is responding to, so whatever you choose makes sense and works better. Once you understand what’s happening inside and outside, the next step is usually obvious.

Dr. Vera Singleton, ND | Naturopathic Doctor Lafayette CA

Dr. Vera Singleton, ND, MBA, naturopathic doctor and founder of Potentia MedSpa in Lafayette, CA

About Dr. Vera Singleton, ND, MBA

Most women who find me have already seen four people.

A doctor for their hormones. Someone else for their gut. A dermatologist for their skin. Somebody for the weight that stopped moving. Four intakes, four copays, nobody talking to each other, and not one of them looking at the whole picture.

I built this practice to end that. I’m a naturopathic doctor and I run a medical aesthetics practice, under one roof, which almost nobody in the Bay Area does. That means I can look at your hormones and your skin in the same visit, notice that your gut and your breakouts are the same problem, and treat both. One body. One doctor. Simple answers.

I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, and I was voted Best Doctor of the East Bay. That’s because I listen.

What I actually believe

Four things, and everything I do comes out of them.

Your body is responding, not failing

This is the one I say most, because it’s the one women most need to hear.

If you’re exhausted, foggy, gaining weight you didn’t earn, sleeping badly, and losing your temper over nothing, your body isn’t broken. It’s responding, logically, to something that changed. Symptoms are signals. They’re explainable.

You’re not imagining it, and I’ve never once met a woman who was.

We test. We don’t guess.

“Your labs are normal” usually means the wrong tests were run, or the right ones were read one at a time.

Hormones don’t work in isolation. Cortisol affects thyroid conversion. Insulin affects sex hormones. Estrogen affects cortisol sensitivity. Treat one while ignoring the rest and you end up on an escalating dose of something, feeling worse, and being told there’s nothing more to do.

I test comprehensively and I read the results against each other. Then I sit down and go through them with you out loud, so you understand your own body when you leave.

Inside and outside are the same conversation

Your skin is an organ. It reports on what’s happening in the rest of you.

Acne is inflammatory. Hair loss is frequently hormonal or nutritional. Skin that went crepey in one year did that because your estrogen dropped and your collagen followed. Treating the surface without asking why is how people spend years and money and end up where they started.

That connection is offered as information, never as a requirement. If you want a facial, you get a facial. Nobody here will tell you to sort out your hormones first. I just think you should have the whole picture, because when you understand your body inside and outside, everything makes more sense.

You’re allowed to start wherever you want

Some women come in about their hormones. Some come in about a wrinkle. Some come in because they don’t feel like themselves and can’t be more specific than that.

There is no wrong door and no hierarchy. Wanting to look better is a completely valid reason to see me, and so is wanting to sleep through the night.

What makes this practice different

I’m both. Functional medicine and medical aesthetics, same doctor, same visit. Most women are managing that split across two or three providers who never speak.

I don’t offer neurotoxin or filler. Not out of opposition, they do what they’re designed to do. But my work is on the skin itself: rebuilding collagen and elastin so your skin is genuinely different rather than temporarily rearranged. That means when I tell you something will help, I’ve got nothing to sell you in the injectable conversation.

I’ll tell you when I’m not the answer. If you need a surgeon, I’ll say so. If a dermatologist should be leading, I’ll co-manage rather than compete. If a treatment won’t get you what you want, I’d rather be right than booked.

I treat everyone’s skin. Every technology I use is safe across all Fitzpatrick types, I through VI, because plasma doesn’t target pigment the way lasers do. If you’ve been turned away from resurfacing because of your skin tone, that isn’t the situation here.

And I’m honest about the hard parts. Healing time, what a treatment can’t do, when the evidence is thin. You’ll get the real version.

“It’s rare to find a practitioner that will give you a DIY option first versus wanting to sign you up for several of their treatments. For that alone I will be back!” Emily Wolbers, ND

Credentials, briefly

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. Trained in functional and integrative medicine, licensed to order comprehensive lab testing and to prescribe, including bioidentical hormone therapy and GLP-1 medications.

MBA. Which is why this is a practice built to work rather than a clinic that happens to exist.

Voted Best Doctor of the East Bay.

Fifteen years in practice, most of it here in the East Bay, treating the same community long enough to have looked after several members of the same family.

I speak on panels around the Bay Area and on podcasts, frequently alongside plastic surgeons, usually about the same thing: that skin quality determines outcomes, and that the inside and the outside are one conversation.

“Our family has been seeing Dr. Vera for years now, and we’ve always been thrilled with the care we’ve received from her. She is one of the most caring people we know and always takes the time to listen intently and effectively help.” Judy B.

What I treat

All of it in one place, which is the point.

Hormones. Perimenopause and menopause, bioidentical hormone therapy, thyroid, adrenal and cortisol patterns, testosterone. Tested comprehensively, read together.

Weight and metabolism. Root cause rather than restriction. GLP-1 medications prescribed with real oversight, and with the goal of getting you off them.

Digestion. SIBO, IBS, dysbiosis, food reactivity, and the gut work that so much else depends on. Co-managed with gastroenterology where that’s appropriate.

Skin. Acne, eczema, pigment, sun damage, and the aesthetic treatments that rebuild skin quality: plasma, microneedling, peels, and regenerative work using your own blood.

Hair. Thinning and shedding, treated from the inside and the scalp at the same time.

Sexual wellness. The conversation most women never start, and one I’ll start for you.

Men, too. Digestion, adrenal health, hair, and testosterone.

How I work

You’ll tell your story once. To me, and I’ll remember it.

I’ll test properly before I decide anything, and I’ll read anything another provider has already run within the last three to six months so you’re not starting over.

I’ll explain your results out loud, with you, not as a message in a portal.

I’ll give you the least invasive thing that will work, and tell you when a smaller treatment is genuinely enough. That includes telling you to do nothing yet, when that’s the honest answer.

And I’ll measure it. Labs get rechecked. Skin gets rescanned. If the data says a plan isn’t working, we change it rather than repeating it.

“She takes the time to truly understand your health concerns and treats the root cause, not just the symptoms. Since seeing her, I’ve experienced real improvements in my overall well-being as well as my skin.” Sara Gruszecki

Why I do this

I love what I do. Being a doctor is my passion, not just a job.

The part I like most is the moment a woman realizes she hasn’t been imagining it. She’s been told for two years that her labs are normal, she’s started to wonder whether she’s difficult, and then we put the whole picture in front of her and it makes sense. Something changes in the room.

That’s the work. Everything else is method.

“Thanks to her, I feel more vibrant, youthful, and confident than I have in years. She helps me look like myself, only fresher, brighter, and more radiant. If confidence could be prescribed, Dr. Vera Singleton would be the one writing it!” Karina Solomon

Where to find me

Potentia MedSpa 1043 Stuart St #210, Lafayette, CA 94549 510-230-2282

Easy to reach from Walnut Creek, Orinda, Moraga, Danville, Alamo, Pleasant Hill, Berkeley, Oakland, and the broader East Bay.

Frequently asked questions

A naturopathic doctor is trained in medical sciences and in functional and integrative approaches to treating the root cause of illness rather than only managing symptoms. In California that includes ordering comprehensive laboratory testing and prescribing within a defined scope, which for me includes bioidentical hormone therapy and GLP-1 medications. What it means practically is that I have more tools than a purely conventional or a purely natural approach would give me, and I use whichever one your situation actually calls for.
No, and most of my patients don’t. I co-manage with primary care, gastroenterology, dermatology, and oncology regularly, and it works well because we’re doing different parts of the same job. I’ll never tell you to come off a medication somebody else prescribed. That’s a conversation with them, and I’m happy to be part of it.
No. Most of my practice is women in their forties, fifties, and sixties, and men come to me too, usually for digestion, adrenal health, hair, or testosterone. The approach is the same: test comprehensively, read it together, treat what’s actually driving it.
No, neither. Not out of opposition, they do what they’re designed to do and plenty of my patients use them elsewhere. My work is on the skin itself, rebuilding collagen and elastin so it’s genuinely different rather than temporarily rearranged. That also means I’ve nothing to sell you in that conversation, so when I recommend something you can take it at face value.
Wherever feels right. Some women come in because they feel off in their bodies. Some come in because they’re concerned about their skin or how they’re aging. There’s no wrong place to begin. My job isn’t to force a path, it’s to help you understand what your body is responding to, so whatever you choose makes sense and works better. Once you understand what’s happening inside and outside, the next step is usually obvious.

Come and tell me what’s going on.

Book a consultation and bring everything, including whatever you’ve already tried and whatever you’ve been told. I’ll listen properly, test what needs testing, and give you the whole picture rather than a piece of it. You’re allowed to start wherever you want. I’ll meet you there.

Book Your FREE 20 Min Phone Consultation

Potentia MedSpa | 1043 Stuart St #210, Lafayette, CA 94549 | 510-230-2282