Detox On Demand

Debra Townes helps clients hit the reset button.
This photo is featured in fashion photographer Ben Fink Shapiro’s portfolio, available for purchase at Tenet in East Hampton and Southampton.

By Beth Landman

Debra Townes, a coveted massage therapist on the East End, now has bigger plans—helping a broader range of people with a more comprehensive detox. To this end, Townes, who has certifications from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, is doing both virtual and in-person work, and has teamed with what she calls her “tribe of healers,” who are kindred spirits.

“I will travel with an esthetician and she will do a facial while I focus on massage,” explains Townes, who owned her own holistic day spa in Cobble Hill for 15 years.

The ultimate goal for Townes is to rid her clients’ bodies of toxins. “No matter how healthy we try to be, we can’t run fast enough to avoid contaminants and pollutants,”
she maintains.

While 10-day cleanses are popular, Townes advocates a more thorough three-month deep cellular-rejuvenating program using herbal supplements, dietary adjustments and body work, which she says rids the body of old, damaged cells. “What I coach people through is not just downstream cleansing, but going to the root cause of what might be creating a toxic burden,” she explains. “Slowly but surely, we go through all the systems of the body so we don’t overwhelm it. I call it nature’s reset button.” debbiedoesdetox.com