My Journey

I became a nutritionist and healer because conventional medicine had failed to help me; it was only when I turned to functional medicine, nutrition and energy medicine that I was able to restore my health.

My childhood felt as if it were one doctor's appointment after another, diagnosis after diagnosis, chasing symptoms and medicating them until new ones would crop up. After being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at eight years old, I vividly remember the doctor scoffing at my mother’s question regarding the role diet might play. She had tried to pursue an alternative route for me but was quickly rebuffed, which meant I was destined for a lifetime of prescriptive medications.

Adolescence was a blur of intense fatigue, pain and dizziness and by the time I’d graduated from college, I’d amassed a very bizarre set of debilitating and seemingly unrelated symptoms, in addition to multiple stints in various residential treatment facilities for severe anorexia. Clearly, something wasn’t right. But dozens of the “best” doctors told me my symptoms probably weren't that bad, might likely be “just stress” and/or that they couldn’t help me. I grew more and more hopeless, struggling to accept that my life might never feel or be like what I’d once imagined for myself. And even worse - truly starting to doubt the experience in my body. Maybe I am imagining all of this, maybe it’s not that bad.

Until my mother encouraged me to make an appointment with a doctor she’d heard interviewed on the radio who took an integrative and holistic approach.

He spent three hours with me during that first appointment and I left feeling as though someone had finally heard me, had really listened and most importantly, had believed me. I felt confident about his confidence in figuring this out. I no longer had to feel alone. I had a very long healing journey ahead of me - having eventually been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, Ehlers Danlos and POTS - but within a few weeks of diligently following the prescriptive healing diet and nutritional supplements, I started to feel so much better: I felt alive and free in ways that I’d never before felt. I couldn't fathom that most people felt like this their entire lives.

This experience disrupted everything I thought I understood about health - never before had I thought that there's a connection between what we eat and how we feel. And despite having seen dozens of doctors by this point, not one of them had asked anything about my diet. But as I continued on this diet, it was becoming more and more evident to me just how significant diet and nutrition are to health and healing. And I wanted to know more.

One book would lead to another would lead to another - it was as if this world I never knew existed suddenly came so intensely into focus. I explored various healing modalities and perspectives, getting my feet wet first with Ayurvedic medicine and then studying the medicinal side of the many herbs I’d grown up cooking with.

At that time, I'd experienced nutrition to be so powerful and transformative - and I was so increasingly fascinated by it - that I decided it was something I needed to pursue as a career. So I found myself back in school for four years, pursuing a Masters degree in Nutrition, in addition to becoming a Registered Dietitian. I’d known that I had little interest in pursuing a career in clinical nutrition, but I very much wanted to understand the science behind it all, knowing that even when practicing holistically, this would make me a stronger practitioner.

Concurrently, I encountered Reiki, a subtle form of energy healing, which my body benefited from tremendously. Always someone who’d been unable to nap, I was amazed that during my first-ever Reiki session, I passed out cold, for the entirety of the 1.5 hours on the table. Later, I came across both iridology and applied kinesiology, two practices which have no scientific foundation, but which I have found immensely helpful in energetic diagnostics, both for me personally and for many I’ve worked with.

Over the last few years, I’ve become more interested in looking at the physical manifestations of trauma and unprocessed emotions. I’ve learned first hand that even the most perfect and therapeutic diet cannot fully heal illness that’s borne from “stuck” emotions - and that most chronic illnesses are. Healing happens when we start to examine the maladaptive strategies we’ve acquired and rewire them so that they’re health-promoting.

These modalities and all this learning inform my practice, Work Your Genes. This practice is also a culmination and reflection of my own healing, growth, and evolution as a practitioner, patient and human. And it is with great privilege that I'm able to share these with you and guide you on your own journey to health and healing.