My story...

Who am I? I’m one of you. A human being learning from each stage and step in life, with good days and bad days, successes and failures. I grew up in Newfoundland, Canada in a small community. I was home schooled with my three older brothers. My youngest brother struggled with a bad rash on his hands. The doctors gave him progressing strengths of cortisone cream until the highest safe dose was no longer effective. When I started to break out in the same rash, my mom decided to go a different route. Homeopathy with some dietary guidelines provided some relief at times but other symptoms kept coming up like migraines, diarrhea, anemia. Then my dad got very ill after some stressful months. All his blood work came back normal and the doctors had no answers for why he could hardly get dressed and have breakfast before needing to take a nap, much less go to work. He went to see a holistic doctor who gave him precise dietary recommendations as well as a supplement protocol. He booked an appointment for me before he left her office! After getting my personalized, bio-individual recommendations the next week, I started to see a dramatic reduction in my symptoms. Within a few weeks my rash was almost gone, I could walk my dog again, I was maintaining a healthy, stable weight and rarely experienced headaches any more.

A few years later, when visiting the west coast, I met a handsome young Atascadero man who stole my heart! 10 months later we got married and I moved almost 5,000 miles across the continent to a different country to be his wife! I loved life here and being married to my best friend but had a lot of personal stress going on. Within a year my rash started coming back. I did all the ‘right’ things that I’d learned before, but it only got worse, slowly spreading to my arms, legs, neck and face. People constantly asked where’d I’d run into poison oak. I went to see a Naturopathic doctor who worked with me on what I was eating, stress management, and supplements. Our biggest breakthrough was finding out that I was allergic to coffee. I was working at Joebella’s at the time, and Joe supported me in leaving as soon as possible, even though I loved working there. Within a few weeks of no longer being exposed to coffee, most of my rash had healed. A few months later I started working for The Wellness Kitchen in Templeton. They are a local non profit providing nutrient dense whole foods and bone broth for the community, especially supporting those going through cancer and other health conditions. I still had small areas of rash that wouldn’t quite go away but it was very manageable to live with compared to what it had been!

Through all of these ups and downs in my health journey, seeing the healing power of nutrition in other people’s lives, and the unsatisfactory interactions people report having with their doctors, a passion built in me to help people. The picture of the kid kneeling beside her bed, crying in pain and frustration and declaring that she wouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy, wouldn’t leave me. The picture of my husband gently, firmly holding my hands so I wouldn’t scratch myself to bleeding wouldn’t leave me. I knew there were others experiencing health issues like this and not finding the help they need. I had to help. My husband assisted me in researching a science based, holistic program that would give me the knowledge and skills within a manageable time. I quickly decided to go with the NTA because of their blend of science with ancestral wisdom view point. 9 months later I graduated from the Nutritional Therapy Assoication’s Functional Practitioner certificate program.

The NTA is a private vocational school in Washington, founded in 1997 by Grey and Joy Graham. Their Nutritional Therapy program qualifies graduates to sit for the National Association of Nutritional Professionals board exam. We are not registered dietitians or licensed nutritionists and do not diagnose or treat disease. We do not take the place of your doctor or health care professional but prefer to work in tandem with them for your benefit. Our training prepares us to educate people to build a foundation of wellness with properly prepared, nutrient dense, whole foods. Then we build on that with the 5 pillars of health, Digestion, Blood sugar balance, Fatty acid balance, Minerals, and Hydration. The result of bringing these areas into focus and optimizing these processes in the body, addresses many underlying health concerns. The NTA always emphasizes bio-individuality. We take into account what has brought the person to this place and what their unique needs are. A huge part of the NTP course is learning the Functional Clinical Assessment.

The Functional Clinical Assessment (FCA) is a series of palpations that uses the body's innate intelligence to assess organs and systems. Using different known points on the torso, hands, feet, and legs, as well as other simple evaluations, we get feedback from the body to understand what foods and supplements might benefit the client the most. This concept is the lingual-neuro test. In this part of the assessment, the client will put a food or supplement in his/her mouth. The practitioner re-palpates the point of concern to see if that particular intervention is what the client needs to support the organ or system. The client gives feedback of tenderness on a 0-10 scale. Once we find something that brings the hot points down, we know what that particular individual needs to best support that organ or system.

While the skills I learned during the NTP program can be used to optimize anyone’s health, I am particularly fascinated by digestion. Maybe you’ve heard the quote, “We are what we eat.” But I like to take it one step further and say, “We are what we digest.” We can eat all the right things and still have imbalances and deficiencies. Bringing digestion into focus can change every cell in your body. If we can improve the health of your cells, we will improve the health of you! Most of us have more digestion issues than we realize and don’t even know what good digestion feels like. IF your digestion is great but there is something else you’d like to work with me on, I’d love to hear from you and work with you on any and all topics of health!

Just as my story has led me to be here today, your story has brought you here today. Your unique background with the health concerns and goals that are individual for you. I would love to be part of your journey forward in helping you discover optimal health and reach your goals with a plan that is right for you.

How I work: If you’d like to work with me, I offer a free 15 minute phone call or meeting to briefly go over your concerns and goals and for me to inform you of expectations and the process of getting started. We will set up your first consult and I will get your email address to send you 3 questionnaires. Those need to be filled out and returned to me within a specified time so that I can prepare for our consult. In your first consult we will talk extensively about your history, your concerns and goals, and start to find a path forward to reach those goals. I will explain any concepts and theories that are applicable to you and you can ask any questions that come to mind. After the consult, I will review all the info I have gathered from you, do further research and then send you a detailed email with recommendation and action steps. If supplements are part of your protocol, I will make recommendations on an online store that carries only quality, trusted supplements. You are free to email with any questions or concerns up to 2 times before our follow up visit which will be 3-6 weeks later. At follow ups we will review what changes you’ve made, any reactions to those, and change protocols as needed. I will send detailed emails after each consult, including any applicable handouts, recipes, and other resources.