A Personal Experience That Changed the Direction of My Life
My journey into chiropractic care began with a devastating automobile accident when I was a young girl—an accident that nearly left me paralyzed. After undergoing conventional medical treatment for acute spinal trauma for over a year, I continued to struggle with symptoms that significantly affected my mobility, well-being, and quality of life.
Then, for the first time, I walked into a chiropractor's office.
What happened next changed my life.
After my first chiropractic adjustment, my body felt different, less neck and back pain, less brain fog and I was able to move without pain.
That experience became the beginning of my lifelong commitment to chiropractic care—and to helping others who are suffering from conditions that affect their health, mobility, and quality of life. I learned that chiropractic was about much more than simply treating pain. I experienced firsthand how improving movement and restoring proper spinal function could make a profound difference in how the body feels and performs. That personal experience inspired me to pursue chiropractic as a profession so that I could help others experience the same possibilities.
In 1997, I graduated from Life University with my Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Since then, I have dedicated more than 25 years to studying the human body, movement, pain, nutrition, and the many ways we can support the body's natural ability to heal and function at its best.
A Career Built on Continued Learning
Throughout my career, I have continued to pursue advanced education and specialized training in chiropractic medicine, sports and extremity care, plant-based nutrition, dry needling, functional nutrition, and animal chiropractic.
My advanced credentials and training include:
- Doctor of Chiropractic — Life University, 1997
- Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP) — Palmer College, 2000
- Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner (CCEP) — 2014
- Advanced/Master's Training in Dry Needling — Australia & New Zealand, 2015–2017
- Certified Animal Chiropractor — Germany, 2025–2026
Exploring Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine
My work in chiropractic naturally led me to a deeper interest in nutrition, lifestyle, and the body's ability to heal through changes in diet and daily habits. In 2021 and again in 2023, I spent time at TrueNorth Health Center in California and Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, gaining firsthand experience and further education in plant-based nutrition, water fasting, raw-food nutrition, and lifestyle-based approaches to health and prevention.
These experiences allowed me to work alongside patients while developing a deeper understanding of how nutrition, fasting, hydration, and whole-food, plant-based dietary approaches can become important components of a comprehensive wellness plan.
This chapter of my education expanded my perspective beyond the musculoskeletal system. I became increasingly interested in functional nutrition and whole-person care—looking at the individual as a complete system and considering how nutrition, movement, stress, sleep, and lifestyle can work together to support health and vitality.
Healing Has Taken Me Around the World
Some of the most meaningful experiences of my career have happened far beyond a traditional office.
I have had the privilege of treating more than 200,000 patients in more than 140 countries.
My work has taken me from private concierge care for royalty and distinguished individuals to humanitarian missions, Buddhist monasteries, refugee communities, elite athletic teams, and some of the world's most demanding high-altitude expeditions.
My international experience includes serving as a team physician on expeditions to Aconcagua and Annapurna, caring for professional and international athletes, including athletes associated with FC Bayern Munich, and providing humanitarian chiropractic care in Lower Manhattan following September 11.
I have also had the privilege of working with Ironman competitors, professional and international triathletes, endurance athletes, and elite performers around the world, helping athletes maintain mobility, recover from the physical demands of training and competition, and perform at their highest level.
My humanitarian work has included providing care to underserved communities, refugee populations, and people who otherwise had limited access to healthcare. I have spent years working with monks and nuns in Buddhist monasteries, where I witnessed firsthand how meaningful even a simple act of care can be when someone has limited access to healthcare.
These experiences have shaped not only my career, but also my understanding of why I do this work.
Pay It Forward
At the heart of my work is a simple philosophy: pay it forward.
I believe that what I have been given—my education, my knowledge, my opportunities, and the ability to help another person heal—was never meant to stop with me. I have been fortunate to receive extraordinary teachers, experiences, and opportunities throughout my life, and I feel a responsibility to share those gifts with others.
The Golden Rule is something I try to carry with me in my heart: treat others as you would want to be treated.
Whether I am caring for a zen master, royalty, an elite athlete preparing for competition, a refugee who has never had access to chiropractic care, a monk in a remote monastery, or an animal that cannot tell us where it hurts, I try to bring the same intention to every encounter: serve, care, and help whenever I can.
From the world's highest mountains to international sporting events, from royal households to refugee camps, these experiences have taught me that healing is ultimately about connection. Healthcare is not simply something we provide—it is something we share.
From Healing People to Listening to Animals
My compassion for animals began with one extraordinary experience that I will never forget.
I was asked to work with a little dog who wasn't able to walk and his condition had deteriorated to the point where doctors had scheduled him to be euthanized.
I performed a chiropractic adjustment and incorporated dry needling hoping to help him with less pain. To my amazement, this little dog was able to get up and walk away. The next day the owner called me and said her dog was normally playing with a ball.
That moment profoundly changed me.
It showed me that animals, just like people, can experience pain, dysfunction, and physical limitations—but they cannot tell us where it hurts. They communicate through movement, posture, behavior, energy, and subtle changes that we have to learn to recognize.
That experience opened my eyes to a new mission: to listen to animals in a different way and help relieve their suffering when they cannot speak for themselves.
It ultimately led me to pursue advanced education in animal chiropractic and to expand my work to include horses, dogs, and other farm animals. Today, I see animal chiropractic as more than an extension of my human practice. It is a deeply personal part of my calling.
Animals may not have a voice to tell us where they hurt—but they are always communicating. We simply have to learn how to listen.
My Philosophy of Care
After decades of working with patients around the world, I have learned that there is no single approach that works for everyone. My goal is to understand the individual in front of me and create care that is thoughtful, precise, and personalized.
I believe healthcare should be about more than chasing symptoms. It is an opportunity to better understand the body, improve movement, support healthy function, and become more proactive about one's health and well-being.
Whether I am caring for a person recovering from an injury, an elite athlete preparing for competition, someone seeking a more natural approach to wellness, or an animal whose movement has changed, my approach begins with the same principle:
Listen. Assess. Understand. Then create a personalized plan for care.
After more than 25 years in practice, I remain just as passionate about chiropractic as I was when I first discovered it following my own automobile accident. That experience gave me more than a career—it gave me a purpose.
My mission is to help, to heal, and to pay forward the gifts I have been given—one person, one animal, and one life at a time.