Meet the Doctor

I grew up in California, always loving nature, animals, and being active outdoors. We had National Geographic magazines in the house, and the stories about cultures around the world that lived very close to the land and used native plants for food and medicine intrigued me. Wanting to be a farmer and world traveler, I combined my love of organic agriculture and a desire to help people by attending the University of California at Davis to study International Agricultural Development. 

While earning my bachelor's degree and living in Africa, Europe, and the U.S., I experienced chronic fatigue and other health problems that led me to natural medicine. Although at first I tried simply helping myself through books and supplements, I found that I needed a naturopathic doctor to figure out what was really going on.  I was so impressed with the results of naturopathic treatment that I decided to become a doctor myself.  During a year abroad in Ghana, West Africa, I studied with a homeopathic doctor from Pakistan, and this peaked my interest in this healing modality.

While preparing for medical school, I lived with a friend and her autistic daughter for three years and developed a heart for kids on the autism spectrum as well as their parents.   I used homeopathy and herbs to treat my own daughter's childhood illnesses, and learned through experience how to raise a child the most natural way possible in our modern world. 

I moved north to Oregon to attend the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland for five years.  While there I gathered an eclectic medicine bag of experience--not just learning about vitamins and herbs, but also a philosophy that puts those medicines in a context to help a doctor choose the most beneficial treatment plan.  I earned a doctorate of naturopathic medicine (N.D.), and chose to remain in the beautiful northwest.  I am a certified DAN (Defeat Autism Now) practitioner, and I add other natural therapies to that protocol (especially homeopathy), trying to stay on the cusp of new information in this field.  I also enjoy seeing adults with chronic disease, and we unravel their health problems together. 

In order to put myself through 13+ years of schooling, I worked as waitress, farm hand, truck driver, facilities manager, artist, medical transcription proofer, receptionist, events coordinator, and insurance biller. I was a single mom for 8 years and now am married with two kids, a cat, a dog, a goldfish, and three chickens.  I value people of all walks of life, and feel that my patients give me the pleasure and priveledge of getting to know them and being an important part of their health care. 

Find out more about Naturopathic Medicine in the Q&A on the patient resources page.

Naturopathic doctors treat patients according to six principles:

• First do no harm
• Treat the whole person
• The healing power of nature
• Identify and treat the cause
• Doctor as teacher
• Prevention

Verse of the month:

       "Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

Ezekial 47:12