Hi and welcome!
People ask me here and there about my journey to becoming a Naturopathic Doctor and my reply is usually longer winded than I anticipate, but that’s just how I roll. I’m a detail-oriented, life squeezing individual. I live for the detail, the long-winded conversations and in my purpose of helping people with their health, going deep into the underlying connections and searching for the missing puzzle pieces.
My journey was really a slow-building snowball. A culmination of curiosity and circumstances that continued to lead me down this path with my love for nature and helping at the core. As well as a bit of stubbornness and knowing there are better solutions to several things in our life experiences providing the fuel. I’ve always been a solution oriented person.
Where it began
I grew up knowing nothing about alternative health, only going to the doctor when we absolutely had to. Scoliosis and back pain secondary to that as well as my mother’s interest in supplements for preventive care were the first doors that opened my mind. Improvement with chiropractic care & self-led Yoga as well as reading articles that ND’s had written in magazines were what sparked the flame for continual learning. That and reacting terribly to oral contraceptives as a means to control my unruly menstrual cycles were motivating factors.
Developing shingles and LSIL (precancerous cervical lesions) in my undergraduate training led me to start my own self-healing process and motivated me to pursue naturopathic medicine to provide care to others that went beyond pharmaceutical prescribing.
Where I received my training
I completed my undergraduate training at UMD in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Directly following, I moved to Seattle Washington, where I received my Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University while enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
One of my interests is in Oncology; while at Bastyr University, I completed an extended preceptorship with Dr. Leanna Standish during my training. She is a wonderful practitioner; she has contributed to research in addition to the care she provides her patients.
Where you’ll find me
My interests are many, and I am fascinated by always learning. I love to cook whole foods meals and get creative in the kitchen, to build and make things for self-reliance and out of necessity. Most importantly what grounds me is connecting with nature and my body. My favorite place has always been in or by the water with the mountains being a close second. Both together? Bliss. I appreciate moving my body through running, bicycling, kayaking and yoga and have found resistance training to be a vital base for making all 4 of those activities more enjoyable. My family taught me to respect and find peace in nature and I enjoy this myself while trying to instill a similar experience for my daughter. Together we find joy in curiously exploring this amazing world. While also curiously learning about connections between this world, resources in nature and our physiology.
I am happy to be here, walking my purpose to share the knowledge I have gained with each individual on their own health journey.
