My Story

My first significant experience with chronic pain happened at about the age of 6. I remember being in the school nurse's office crying from the pain in my head and being terrified because I couldn't see parts of things, all I could see were floating things and static. On top of that, the pain was so awful, it made me sick to my stomach. I learned quickly that I suffered from migraine headaches. On top of getting migraine headaches, I was hypoglycemic, and allergic to dairy. Over the years, one of the things I found most difficult was trying to describe to someone what it felt like to have a migraine. That it wasn't as easy as just taking some aspirin and "getting over it".

It wasn't until my mid 20's that I decided to take control of my health. I wasn't sure what that meant, I just knew I had to do something because the doctors sure didn't know what to do with me and I found the migraine medicine and injections really didn't do all that much except make me more sick to my stomach. So, I began to rekindle my relationship with yoga, eat a more plant based diet, and eliminate dairy. A turning point in my life was when I was living in northern California and I felt like I desperately needed a massage . I was hopeful that I could find a massage therapist that could help loosen up my tight back and at the same time help me with my digestion and my headaches. I came across this lady that said she did Bowen Therapy but that it really wasn't like massage at all but could help with what I was complaining about. So I went to see her. Needless to say, I was hooked! She got rid of my back pain, almost immediately my digestion was better, and my migraines ended up going into remission for months. I said to myself after seeing her, "I am going to do what she does…someday". Where ever I traveled or moved to, I tried to find a Bowen Therapist, but found it was difficult as there were not a lot of them in the US at that time.

I then moved to Arizona and went back to school to become an Occupation Therapy Assistant and worked at a rehabilitation hospital in Tucson. I worked primarily with orthopedic and neurological rehab. Often times, I would sneak home made food to my patients so they could eat half way decent food and used as much modified yoga for their rehabilitation as I could.

When I moved to Virginia in 1999, I went back to school yet again to become a massage therapist because I wanted to utilize my rehab knowledge and apply it to massage therapy and yoga so I could better serve people living with pain and chronic illnesses. I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to deepen my knowledge and love for healthy eating and then.... FINALLY I found myself one of 12 Bowenwork Teachers in the US to study Bowen Therapy with here in Virginia! What a gift!

So it all came together like the pieces of a puzzle. I am now able to use all of my healing tools, training, and knowledge: Bowen Therapy, massage, occupational therapy, holistic nutrition, and yoga to work with others to help manage their chronic pain issues and migraine headaches, heal digestive issues and develop a strong immune system, and better navigate life with less stress and a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

Thank you for stopping by and trusting me with your care on your healing journey.

Education, Certifications, Trainings + Professional Affiliations:

BOWEN THERAPY ACADEMY OF AUSTRALIA via Bowenwork Academy USA  Certified Professional Bowenwork Practitioner, April 2010

CERTIFIED WELLNESS INVENTORY COACH  December, 2007

INSTITUTE FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EATING  5 month training in Dynamic Eating Psychology + Body Mind Nutrition with Marc David, PhD.  February, 2007

EXPERIENCED YOGA TEACHER REGISTRATION 200 HOURS WITH YOGA ALLIANCE  September 26, 2006

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF DRUGLESS PRACTITIONERS  Member June, 2005

INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION New York, NY  Certified Holistic Nutrition and Health Counseling, June 2005

APPLIED KINESTHETIC STUDIES Herndon, VA  Massage Therapy, April 2003

NATIONAL CERTIFICATION BOARD FOR THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE AND BODYWORK  Certified Massage Therapist,  September 2003

APOLLO COLLEGE Tucson, AZ  Associates of Applied Science, Occupational Therapy Assistant, April 1998

HOPE COLLEGE Holland, MI  Bachelor of Arts, Dance and Movement Therapy, May 1994