Certifications
I’m a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, FMCHC. I graduated from the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (class of 2020-21). FMCA is the coaching academy from the Institute for Functional Medicine, and is the only coaching certification program that has completely incorporated Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition into the curriculum. I learned from teachers and advisors like Dr Mark Hyman (MD), Dr Terry Wahls (MD), Dr Deanna Minich (PhD, FACN, CNS, RYT), Dr Ryan Niemiec (PsyD), and Dr Beth Frates (MD). Many of these professionals are also authors who have incredible wealth of knowledge and online resources.
I am also a certified Autoimmune Paleo Coach, from the curriculum of Dr Sarah Ballantyne (PhD) (aka The Paleo Mom), an incredible expert in the field of biophysics, and in particular, gut-lining epithelial cell biology. She is well published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and as an author of four books on paleo lifestyles and autoimmunity. The coursework was facilitated by Mickey Trescott (chef and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner) and Angie Alt (IIN Health Coach and Functional Nutritional Therapy Consultant), also brilliant authors and contributors to knowledge on managing and recovering from autoimmunity.
Childhood
My life revolved around food restrictions and health issues as a kid, though they weren’t mine. My little brother was trapped in the revolving door of emergency rooms, and family life revolved around his symptoms and restrictions. As a child, I watched modern medicine treat him like a guinea pig. A rotation diet he was put on at 4 is one of the biggest reasons he is alive today.
I also accumulated a lot of childhood trauma from anger, emotional abuse, and mental illness in the home. Thanks to the work of people like Gabor Maté, CM (Canadian physician and author), and many other academics, scientists, and researchers, we know beyond a doubt that childhood trauma can manifest as chronic illness later in life, in the same way that PTSD can cause disease in adulthood. (For instance, this article on NIH describes the biological and psychological mechanisms.) The path to healing from chronic illness has led to some strange places: doing inner child work, recognizing the traumas of my ancestors that are carried in the methylation of my genes, and doing somatic work to release patterns from the physical and energetic body.
Celiac Disease and Histamine Intolerance
In 2000, when no one knew what gluten was, I developed celiac disease. It was after a 6 month battle with mononucleosis (EBV, Epstein Barr Virus, also known as human herpesvirus 4). For research on EBV and autoimmunity, see the book and resources by Dr Kasia Kines.) As with most cases, celiac ran in my family. My father had constant, severe gastrointestinal symptoms until his late 40’s, when he was finally diagnosed. My celiac was managed through strict adherence to a gluten free diet, and avoidance of similar gliadins, like those in oats.
In 2015 I developed severe histamine intolerance, seemingly overnight (possibly MCAS, but never tested). Where celiac felt debilitating, histamine intolerance made me feel like a hypochondriac. My symptoms were unpredictable and often barely believable (I can’t go to yoga in case the teacher lights a candle). The histamine intolerance was managed through an incredibly strict diet, careful routine, supplementation, and Naltrexone.
Thankfully and gratefully, I now understand both diseases from the perspectives of biology, trauma, and spiritual energetics. The histamine intolerance was completely resolved in April 2021 during a plant medicine retreat. Though I suspect the celiac was also resolved, I have not been willing to eat gluten on purpose to find out. I have been exposed to contamination many times with no symptoms.
Our health is a result of many, many layers. One can find healing at all of them. I’m happy to work with you on any of them. And I’m proud to work with Functional Medicine, which seeks to find root causes instead of treating symptoms.
I also have first-hand experience with:
- the benefits and risks (to women’s hormones) of long term ketosis from a ketogenic diet
- rebalancing a microbiome post-antibiotics
- intermittent fasting and water fasting
- the effect of extreme athletics on the digestive system
- caring for someone with severe SIBO
- holotropic breathwork (personal, not certified)
- yoga (200hr certification, Seattle 2019)
- plant medicine for trauma healing (personal, not certified)
- energy medicine training, 4mo in Cusco, Peru 2022
- environmental toxin symptoms and related detox (from my own and my partner’s personal exposure to huge quantities of insecticide, 2022) (I list these symptoms here because they are so difficult to find information on: neuropathies including neuropathic itch, sensation of crawling and jumping bugs, tingling, involuntary muscle spasms and twitches—particularly at night and while sleeping, feeling of static shocks and pricking on the skin, headaches, insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks, and the reoccurrence of all symptoms and severe depression when detox was not handled correctly.)
In addition to being a health coach and a science- and wellness-geek for most of my life, I’m also a designer/art director/creative director, a mountaineering and climbing instructor, a forager, an artist, and an energy worker. My incredible partner and I spend summers in the beautiful Pacific Northwest of the USA, and chase the sun the rest of the year.