My interest in PT began during high school when I injured my back and had to sit out of sports for 6 weeks. This was devastating to me, and I knew I wanted to help others get back to sport after injury. While playing sports all through high school and college, this back injury combined with scoliosis lead to years of back pain with which I thought I had to live. It wasn’t until my coworker and the PT that I chose to treat my own back mentioned Pilates to me that I began classes on the reformer.  Within weeks of consistent Pilates, the sciatica pain down my leg began to disappear. I was hooked. I knew I wanted to use Pilates as part of my practice. I took Mat Pilates and Reformer Pilates instructor training through Balanced Body and now have my own reformer that I use to educate and train my clients in mind-body connection and core stabilization.

My interest in nutrition came three years after I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. After having our third child, I began having significant joint pain to the point that I could no longer pick up my newborn son, push my toddlers in the swing. or get up out of a chair. Not knowing what I know now, I immediately began the conventional treatment of steroids and other RA drugs that controlled the arthritis  quickly but had a whole host of dangerous side effects. After being on the medications for three years I had finally had enough. I took the medications once a week, and each time I did I felt extremely tired and nauseated for the next two days. I decided this was no way to live and sought other options. A patient of mine mentioned functional medicine, and so I sought out alternative health in this manner. Through much testing and guidance, I began an elimination diet. Within weeks, I was off the medication and feeling great. This, combined with the Pilates, also relieved the last bit of back and leg pain. Because of the change that nutrition had in my own life, I wanted to learn more and began studying and researching nutrition and wellness. This led me to Hawthorn University, where I did my nutrition studies and became a Certified Nutrition Consultant.

I now believe that it is not possible to treat Physical Therapy patients without addressing them as a whole. Not only do I address the musculoskeletal issues, but I also educate my clients on nutrition, lifestyle changes, and the principles of Pilates that have taught me so much in my own health journey.

I am blessed to be a wife and a mother of three active children. I am grateful for the challenges God has placed in my life to help me learn to rely on Him and cherish my family and health.