It all began during childhood when my mom started pushing Flintstone vitamins on us. Then, her push toward natural vitamins, herbs, and supplements became a little excessive, or at least it felt that way to us then. Looking back, I have to thank my mom for getting me focused on natural health and wellness approaches. During high school, I remembered feeling terrified when I thought I had found a 
lump in one of my breasts. Later, my gynecologist calmed my fears by explaining it was just a fibroid cyst. I was very relieved at that point but only after I had taken a royal ride on an emotional rollercoaster.
Undergraduate school was an extremely stressful period and took a major toll on my body, as I didn’t know how to cope with stress at the time. Majoring in textile engineering and staying on top of the rigorous demands of the program took a lot of effort. My entire junior year of college was spent going from doctor to doctor to see if I could find someone to help me as I was often exhausted, bloated, in pain, and troubled with headaches. Multiple tests were done and nothing showed up. They said it was all “in my head.” Yes, but my physical symptoms were real! Cortisone shots were a last resort, and those actually made me feel even worse. I remember not even having the energy to pack up my room at the end of my junior year when my dad and brother came to pick me up from school.
After a short stint working in the textile industry, I made a major shift to go back to school to enter the helping profession in the summer of 2000. Somewhere in the midst of grad school to become a mental health counselor, I began additional education as a Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP). This training taught me nutrition, natural supplementation, iridology, reflexology, body systems, and body work. I also became interested in the study of mindfulness. 
Becoming mindful in my own life made a major difference for me in terms of shifting from a person who could be a victim of her experiences to becoming a woman empowered through her experiences. Mindfulness practices also helped me permanently overcome compulsive stress eating that I had been prone to since high school.
Working in an integrative medicine & wellness facility after graduate school was perfectly in alignment with my long-term goals. I became familiar with and spoke on the many aspects of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). I was also first introduced to the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) while working at the wellness center. For a short time, I even opened my own mobile wellness consultancy, Phoenix Total Health, that I managed outside of my full-time work. Still very much in an exploratory mode, organic food caught my attention and I moved to Vermont to work on an organic farm. Although I originally thought I wanted to live permaculture-style for the rest of my life, working on the farm for 3 months changed my mind. Thereafter, I moved up to Burlington to continue my work as a psychotherapist with a group private practice.
During my time in Burlington, my mom told me about her chiropractor’s work using German New Medicine (GNM) that looked at the emotional root causes to disease. Since I was living only 2 hours from Montreal where classes were held on GNM, I attended a number of seminars to learn more about this fascinating topic. It totally changed my life and my view on how I saw illness and disease in myself and in others. It brought a great deal of freedom. Having felt very much in control of my own health and wellness due to my earlier training as a CNHP and knowledge of CAM approaches, learning GNM took my empowerment level regarding my own health to the next level. When you don’t live in fear of “getting a disease”, this is totally freeing. Not having to go to the doctor except on the rare occasion for symptom amelioration or minor procedures is a totally empowering experience. I call it finding your own “inner doctor”. I am not afraid of “getting” cancer, for example. I have never had a mammogram, and don’t plan to ever get one solely on a “preventive” basis. My wish is that everyone had this freedom from fear when it comes to their own health.
When I moved to Florida in 2009, I resumed my studies with EFT and took them to the next level over the past few years. I finally opened my private practice in Miami in January 2011. Having the knowledge of GNM to understand the disease framework and the use of EFT to help clients work through the emotional conflicts at the core of their dis-ease, as well as having natural health supplementation and dietary knowledge, all combined to clarify my vocational focus on the treatment of chronic pain and serious illness. This is my passion.
Also, I have been on my own psychospiritual path of exploration and practice over the last two decades. Having spiritual strength on the inside does not have to mean that you sound overtly “spiritual” or religious, look or dress a certain way, or have certain behaviors. It is a peaceful awareness; it is one that does not feel lonely. The “being challenged along the way” on the path of life always helps to ground me and to inform the work I do with others, as they may be experiencing something very similar.
In addition to seeing clients in my practice, the rest of my vocational work includes educating the public on how to optimize their wellness outside of the limits of conventional medicine alone. Empowered people are happy, healthy people!
