Head to Toe Health Centre

It was a life-changing event that sparked Dr. Karen Hack’s interest in naturopathic medicine. After being hit by a car while riding her bike, Karen sustained a traumatic injury and doctors told her it was unlikely she would return to the university where she’d been studying. Determined to resist the label and limitations of a life-long pathology, Karen was not only able to recover but she returned to university a few months later. Thus began her life-long interest in 'alternative' approaches to medicine, such as; botanicals, supplements, acupuncture, psychotherapy, and other holistic treatments.

“Conventional medicine is a useful tool, but it has its limitations,” Karen says. “It was because of my experience with these limitations that I started looking for other ways of approaching conditions. Naturopathy provided a different perspective on my experience. When you approach things from a different perspective, you can see that there are other possibilities.”

After her graduation from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Karen worked for months with her father to renovate the debilitated house at 71 Oxford. She launched the Head to Toe Health Centre in 2003, a space which zeroes in on top alternative treatments for a myriad of health issues. And if you've strolled Kensington Market’s bustling streets, you’ve no doubt crossed paths with the clinic – even if you didn’t realize it. Housed in a stunning Victorian at the corner of Oxford Street and Augusta Avenue, the naturopathy and psychotherapy centre is best recognized by its 20-foot mural and the internationally renowned garden car parked outside of it. Karen insures the mobile urban garden, a fixture of Toronto’s Kensington Market and one of the neighbourhood’s most famous architectural icons. While nowadays her focus is largely on psychotherapy, she is supported by fellow naturopathic doctor and CCNM graduate, Dr. Angelica Kada.