Half dietitian, half social worker, holistic treatment.

As a 17-year-old high schooler, I dreamed of being a social worker. Yet the path to achieving that dream seemed unclear and uncertain, so I decided to join the Air Force. My rationale? A stint in the Air Force would help me get a college degree, and then I would be able to make a difference. Turns out, the "difference" I made was a deeper understanding of myself. The Air Force taught me the vital role a dietitian plays in health and gave me the confidence to tackle college and become a dietitian.

In my early years as a dietitian, I wanted to take on difficult cases. This eagerness resulted in many job changes and different roles as a dietitian. Eventually, I began a new role working with individuals experiencing eating disorders. This was an area that wasn't taught in classes when I was an undergraduate, so I had to navigate how to effectively treat these individuals on my own. I finally found my calling, my life’s challenge.

I was drawn to helping people with disordered eating because treatment required building deep relationships and understanding how food became a solution for difficulties my clients faced. However, the complexities of these relationships helped me realize that my dietitian training alone wasn’t enough to provide the best care possible for disordered eating.

After a few years, I realized that many of my disordered eating clients had experienced unresolved past traumas. Because of the trusting relationships we'd built, my clients would share their accounts during our nutrition counseling sessions. I soon realized I needed to additional training to continue treatment in an ethical, effective manner. After 14 years as a dietitian, I began my journey to become a social worker, fulfilling a decades-old high school dream. 

Today, as a social worker and dietitian, I help clients navigate their relationship with food and understand how that relationship has affected their lives. My goal with patients is to explore how food is related to their depression, anxiety, and trauma, and I rely on their thoughts and feelings about eating to help guide them along the path to healing. 

In addition to helping individuals experiencing eating disorders, I also find it paramount to help equip parents and loved ones in ways to support the client through recovery. While parents often experience feeling blamed for their child's eating disorder, they are our number one ally in achieving a successful treatment outcome. My practice includes teaching parents how to be the best caregivers for their loved ones in their recovery journey.

Because we're all in this together. This commitment to recovery will be the best thing you will ever do, and it will be the hardest thing you will ever do, but if you do the work, you will recover.