I was always curious about the well-being of other people; I wanted to know what made people happy and what they were passionate about. I’d ask my high school classmates about their lives in the hallways during breaks, and have long conversations with people I met on the bus. I generally contemplated my way through my early years.
I was lucky to have lovely parents who happened to be natural living buffs (even though they would never have called themselves such), they kept myself and my sisters healthy and fit by disguising exercise with fun activities. Skiing, horseback riding, basketball, and tap dancing were a regular part of our very active lives. My mom cooked tofu and veggies, homemade soups and preserves, and packed lunches wherever we went from the time we were very young. Clean eating was our norm – although my dad did love desert – so there was a reasonable balance!
A wonderful counselor at my university described Naturopathic Medicine to me during a conversation about what the heck I was going to do with my life – it was as if someone had created a profession just for me. I was hooked, it was exactly what I wanted to do, and I have never looked back.
While I was in University, I had an experience that deepened my appreciation for what physical and emotional stress can do to the body and how powerful diet and natural medicine are in regaining that balance. I had a severe full body outbreak of eczema after over training for triathlons and a stressful workload in school. Anyone who has experienced eczema knows that the itching, cracking, and bleeding makes you want to tear your skin off!
I connected with a local Naturopathic doctor who discovered I had numerous food sensitivities. I noticed a major improvement after only a few days of eliminating the offending foods. After several weeks, 90% of my symptoms abated. The biggest bonus was being able to sleep again! This dramatic improvement through diet—specifically food sensitivity elimination—is the reason I chose to use this as a major focus in practice. After completing my BA, I moved to Toronto where I made my way through 4 years of intensive study at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine taking a special interest in detoxification, digestive disorders, and homeopathic medicine.
Today, in addition to serving the Tri-city area at the Port Moody Naturopathic Clinic, which I opened in 2004, I am a busy mom to a young daughter. I have been a supervising doctor at the teaching clinic of the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, and would give talks on various topics, such as, ‘How to Heal IBS’, ‘Spring Detoxification’, and ‘Recipe for Healthy Poo’, at Planet Organic Market (before it turned into Pomme) in Port Coquitlam. I also helped organize the Naturopathic team for the 24 hour Easter seals relay fundraiser “Fueled by Nature”, to support camps for BC kids.
I am certified by the College of Naturopathic Physicians in BC, the Canadian Naturopathic Association, and the BC Naturopathic Association where I served on the Board in 2006.
In my spare time, I used to soak in BC’s beautiful outdoors by rock climbing, running, and hiking with my husband Ryan and our dear old dog Reina. Now that I’m a parent, I strive everyday to strike a balance between life, work, exercise, family, and diet, as all of my patients with full lives (and children) can attest to. I try to keep things simple by getting outside as much as possible, copying everything my young daughter does (the newest workout fad!), and cooking large batches of healthy food like my mom did. My favorite summer pastimes still include canning fruits and veggies for winter, and making “100-mile” meals with seasonal produce from local farmers markets.