ABOUT ME AND WHAT I DO

ABOUT ME

I am a Washington state licensed naturopathic physician and have been practicing integrative naturopathic family medicine for over twelve years in the greater Seattle area. I am a 2007 graduate from Bastyr University. I earned my bachelor's degree in 1997 in Nutritional Sciences from the University of New Hampshire minoring in Women's Studies and Environmental Sciences. I moved to Seattle to attend Bastyr University, but took a hiatus from education where I worked at Amazon in customer service and as an operations analyst. I believe this experience furthered my analytical skills, and now aids in my thorough analysis of each and every patient as well as understanding the rigor of the tech industry. 

​

I have lived in Seattle since 1998 and understand the stress of the growing city, the appreciation of our natural environment, and what it takes to manage a career and family in this day and age, and understand that none of it is easy. I live in West Seattle with my husband and two children and strive to find the delicate balance between it all.

​

MY WHY

​

During my first week of high school I was in a very tragic accident, that could have been fatal. I was struck by a car riding my bicycle to crew practice. I had several fractures, cuts, and bruises. Although I spent a week in the hospital at the time, there was no indication for surgery, casts or even a brace. After stitches and  learning how to operate a wheel chair and get around on crutches, I was sent home with no further follow up instructions. After several months of recovering at home, I searched further support and began physical therapy. From that time on, I spent the last thirty years managing chronic pain from these old injuries. From an early introduction to the health care system at a young age, I learned that prevention and self care was not part of it. It was during this time that I learned of Bastyr University and Naturopathic Medicine and there was a career path to guide others in optimizing health in the current health care model. 

​

My health has continued to be a work in progress, not only with managing chronic pain from the accident, but also with diagnosis of Autoimmune thyroiditis, iron deficiency anemia in addition to a folate and B12 deficiency that added to a state of chronic fatigue. It is from this personal experience that I specialize in nutrition, chronic fatigue, thyroid conditions and hormones with my patients. 

​

My mission is to help others identify underlying causes of illness and dig deep into ways to optimize their health and teach them how to be able to take charge of their own wellness.

​

WHAT I DO

​

Areas of specialty include but not limited to: fatigue, thyroid and adrenal function, hormone balance, irregular cycles, PMS, peri-menopause, and menopause. I use a combination of diet, lifestyle, nutritional therapy, functional medicine, herbal medicine, bio-identical hormones, and prescription medicine in my treatment plans. I am able to prescribe bio-identical testosterone therapy when indicated.  I perform in depth lab testing on most patients and provide a thorough analysis of the reports and strive for optimizing values and wellness.  I ask that patients continue to see their primary care provider for routine exams, labs, imaging, and urgent care needs.

​

TELEMEDICINE

​

I am privileged to be able to continue live video appointments to Washington State residents. This change began during the initial phase of COVID-19 and school closure and all in office visits stopped.  I will continue to offer Telemedicine visits to new and established patients and will bill insurance when it is covered. This is something I never thought I would do full time, but we are all adapting to this changing time and doing what is right for ourselves and our families. If you need a different time that is available, please contact me and we will find a time that works for you.  Labs are done at off site draw locations and some specialty labs directly are shipped to your door. Supplements can be purchased through my account on Fullscript and mailed to you directly. I am also encouraging patients to use mail order pharmacies for their prescriptions which I send in through ePrescribing or call the pharmacy directly.