Why We Take a Whole-Person Approach to Counseling

I didn’t create my practice simply because I wanted to work in healthcare.

I created it because I know what it feels like to be the patient who isn’t being heard.

My health journey began when I was very young. I struggled with anxiety from an early age, and at 11 years old, I developed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), but at the time, ARFID wasn’t something the people caring for me understood.

I was misdiagnosed with anorexia and spent years being treated for something I didn’t have.

I knew there was something different about my experience with food, but I didn’t have the words to explain it—and the people around me didn’t yet have the knowledge to understand it.

For years, I felt misunderstood.

It wasn’t until much later, when I learned about ARFID, that so many pieces of my own story finally began to make sense. For the first time, I had a framework that helped me understand myself rather than feel like something was wrong with me.

That experience changed me.

It taught me what it feels like to sit on the other side of healthcare—to have questions, to be afraid, to know that something isn’t right, and to desperately want someone to listen.

It also taught me how powerful the right information can be.

My health journey didn’t end there. Over the years, I experienced additional health concerns and misdiagnoses. I have invested deeply in my own health. I have gone through testing, asked difficult questions, made changes, learned from my experiences, and lived through the journey. I don’t ask my patients to do things I am unwilling to do myself. I am grateful for these experiences, as they taught me something valuable about the healthcare system, the importance of asking questions, and the profound difference it makes when a healthcare professional truly listens.

And then there was my family.

My passion for prevention and whole-person health was profoundly shaped by watching the people I love struggle with serious illness.

When I was in my early twenties, my father survived a “widow-maker” heart attack. That experience changed my life’s direction. I began asking questions about heart health, prevention, nutrition, lifestyle, and whether we could have understood or done things differently before a health crisis occurred.

My family history is filled with experiences that have stayed with me—heart attacks, strokes, cancer, autoimmune and gastrointestinal disease, hearing loss, medication complications, and serious health challenges that affected people I love deeply.

I watched my mother struggle with severe colitis and accident trauma from a very young age and ultimately undergo multiple major surgeries. I watched my parents face life-threatening health complications. I saw the emotional and physical toll that illness can take—not only on the person who is sick, but on an entire family.

These experiences shaped the questions I continue to ask today:

Can we identify problems earlier?

Can we do more to prevent disease?

Can we look beyond the diagnosis and understand the whole person?

Can we listen more carefully?

Can we help people understand their bodies and become active participants in their health?

Those questions became my calling.

I earned a degree as a specialized wellness therapist and later completed my master’s certification in complementary medicine and wellness because I wanted to understand health more broadly.

I wanted to understand the person—not just the diagnosis.

For the past 15 years, I have also worked in bariatric medicine, where I have had the privilege of helping thousands of people change their lifestyles, improve their health, lose weight, and work toward living longer and healthier lives.

That experience has taught me another important lesson:

Weight is only one piece of the health puzzle.

There is a person behind the number on the scale.

There is a history behind the diagnosis.

There are experiences behind the symptoms.

Medications, nutrition, sleep, stress, movement, environment, genetics, relationships, mental and emotional well-being, and countless other factors can influence how a person feels and functions.

This is why I believe in a holistic approach.

Not because I believe there is one answer for everyone, but because I believe you deserve to be seen as a whole person.

I also believe in advocacy because I know personally how much it matters.

I have been the person sitting in the exam room hoping someone would listen.

I have been the person trying to make sense of a diagnosis.

I have been the person whose health experiences created fear and anxiety.

And I have been the person who eventually found information that helped me understand myself in a completely different way.

Those experiences have made me deeply passionate about helping others find their own path to health.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I know how to listen. I know how to ask questions. I know how overwhelming healthcare can feel. And I know how empowering it can be when someone finally helps you understand what is happening and gives you the tools to move forward.

That is why I created this practice.

I created it for the person who feels stuck.

For the person who has tried everything.

For the person who feels like nobody is listening.

For the person defined by a diagnosis, a lab result, or a number on a scale.

For the person who wants to understand why they feel the way they do and what they can do about it.

And for the person who simply wants someone in their corner.

My role isn’t to tell you there is one perfect path to health.

My role is to help you discover your path.

I want to educate you, support you, advocate for you, and walk alongside you as you make changes that can improve your health and your life.

I have walked this road myself.

I have experienced the fear of not knowing, the frustration of being misunderstood, the relief of finally finding answers, and the empowerment that comes from learning to advocate for your own health.

I bring all of those experiences into my work.

Because this practice isn’t just a business I created.

It is the culmination of my life.

It grew from my family.

It grew from my own health struggles.

It grew from being misunderstood.

It grew from asking questions.

It grew from wanting to understand.

It grew from 15 years of caring for thousands of patients.

And ultimately, it grew from a belief that no one should have to navigate their health journey feeling alone, dismissed, or unheard.

This practice exists

…to listen.

…to help you understand.

…to advocate for you.

…to walk alongside you.

Because my greatest hope isn’t simply to help you lose weight or manage a health concern.

It’s to help you build a healthier, more informed life—and give you the confidence and tools to become your own strongest health advocate.

You deserve to be heard.
You deserve to be understood.
And you deserve a path forward.