My Story

My journey to becoming a naturopathic doctor began long before I ever considered a career in natural healthcare. From an early age, I had an intuitive belief that the natural way was often the best way. I was fascinated by the healing power of nature and by the body's ability to utilize natural substances. I didn't have the terminology for it as a child, but my interest in natural health and holistic healthcare was already taking shape.

When I was in grade school, I remember having a conversation with my mom about chlorine in drinking water and why it didn't seem to hurt us. Even then, I had questions about the substances we encounter in everyday life and how they might affect our health. I developed an early belief that nature has a way of healing itself, even when we don't fully understand all of the processes involved. I was also intuitively interested in the importance of avoiding unnecessary exposure to potentially harmful substances. That curiosity about nature, health, nutrition, and the body's ability to heal continued throughout my life.

I  experienced IBS symptoms since I was in grade school.  At one point, about 30 years ago, I had 25 to 30 different food sensitivities.  It was very difficult to eat out without feeling ill. I didn't yet know that I needed to avoid either gluten or dairy, so I often didn't feel well.  The doctor I saw at the time seemed to think that I needed to live with it, that there was nothing they could do about it.  Once I was in naturopathic medical school at National College of Natural Medicine, I learned about leaky gut and the importance of treating the cause.  I was able to resolve my food sensitivities over the course of 18 to 24 months by treating Lyme, Bartonella and Babesia, identifying and treating gut infections and optimizing my gut flora by eating a lot of different veggies. I still have a true allergy (IgE) to dairy and soy, and need to avoid gluten due to a family history of auto-immunity.

When I was raising my sons, I made an effort to prepare food using organic ingredients. I cooked and baked with organic foods because I wanted to make choices that I believed would support my family's health. At that time, however, I didn't yet understand everything I know today.  I wasn't yet aware that my children would be less likely to develop autoimmunity if I had them on a gluten-free, casein-free diet since there was autoimmunity in my family history. At the time, I was baking lots of whole grain foods with organic whole grains and making my own yogurt, so they got plenty of it.

I was also unaware of the possible health effects associated with some  mold I saw on the walls of our old farmhouse basement.

Those experiences became part of my lifelong education about natural health. They reinforced for me that learning about health is an ongoing process and that there is always more to understand about nutrition, environmental factors, and the individual needs of each person.

At age 46, I began considering a career change. I wasn't looking for just any new career. I wanted to find work that was meaningful and aligned with my longstanding interest in natural health. I asked Dr. Nancy Soliven, a chiropractor who was also skilled in craniosacral therapy, what she thought I might do.

Her response changed the course of my life.

She told me that if she had been younger, she would have gone to naturopathic medical school. She also told me about a school in Lombard, Illinois, and suggested that I take a tour.  Until that conversation, I hadn't known that naturopathic doctors existed. I toured National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL, then took a trip to Portland, OR to tour National College of Natural Medicine, now called National University of Natural Medicine. As soon as I began learning more about naturopathic medicine, I recognized that it was a natural fit for me. The philosophy of naturopathic medicine connected with the interests I had carried with me since childhood: natural health, nutrition, the body's ability to heal, and finding ways to support people in improving their health.

Although I knew that naturopathic medicine was the right career path for me, I had a significant concern: the cost of obtaining my education. The tuition was going to be roughly $100,000, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of taking on that amount of student debt at age 46. I had been a single parent for most of my children's lives so taking 6 or 7 years away from investing concerned me as well.

For a while, I put the idea aside.

Eventually, however, I realized that I was more concerned about what other people might think about me going back to school and taking out student loans at 46 than I was about pursuing something I genuinely wanted to do. I finally decided that it was my money, my decision, and my life. So I pursued my doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and....it turned out to be one of the most meaningful decisions I have ever made.

Becoming a naturopathic doctor gave me the opportunity to turn a lifelong interest in natural health into a profession focused on helping patients. What I find most rewarding about practicing naturopathic medicine is seeing a patient make meaningful progress in their health and quality of life. My patients sometimes describe this experience as "getting their life back." Those words have stayed with me because they express exactly why I chose this profession.

Healthcare is about more than identifying a problem andresolving it. For me, it is also about helping people understand their health, supporting the body's natural processes, and working toward meaningful improvements in how they feel and function.

Today, I am grateful that I took that leap.  Being a naturopathic doctor is deeply rewarding because I have the privilege of helping people work toward better health and, as my patients often say, helping them "get their life back."

I initially set up a brick and mortar practice in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I was awarded the Fort Collins Best Naturopathic Clinic for 8 years in a row. I had some patients driving far to see me so started to do video consults even before COVID made them common practice.  People have become so comfortable with virtual care that I continue to do do virtual care.  At the present time, I have a very part-time office in Plano, Texas for those who want to meet me in person.  Most of the care I provide is virtual care, either by video or telephone. I am able to provide virtual naturopathic care to those who live in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. I am accepting new patients.

I am a life-long learner and feel like my passion for learning and for helping people restore their health enables me to stay at the forefront of the latest research in digestive health, mold illness, lyme disease and coinfections, other chronic infections.  My goal for the past few years is to gain knowledge and skill in the treatment of PANS, PANDAs, auto-immune encephalopathy and autism as well. I feel blessed that I enjoy learning about these conditions when it then enables me to be more effective in treating my patients who have these conditions. 

Core strengths