About

As a vocational rehabilitation counselor, I helped injured workers in the California worker’s compensation program make career changes and get back to work after assessing interests and transferrable skills. My work in research involved interviewing couples, facing a diagnosis of infertility, about their psychological well-being and decisions regarding treatment options. I also worked directly with participants and managed a research lab and large NIH-funded study examining links between chronic stress and health in women caring for a spouse or parent with dementia. As part of my work, I gave talks to local groups of caregivers stressing the importance of finding respite and caring for oneself to mitigate the stresses and negative health consequences that can result from the stresses associated with caregiving.

Why I Chose To Become An Integrative Health Coach

Throughout my work, in both vocational rehabilitation and research, I was able to witness how these individuals, facing difficult life circumstances, coped with and handled these challenges and hardships, often achieving a new level of insight and functioning. Working with and helping people has been a life passion and inspired me to pursue training as an Integrative Health Coach, through Duke and Well-Being, in order to assist individuals in transforming their health towards achieving optimal well-being. I chose the Duke Health and Well-Being Coaching certification program because it is grounded in research, theory, and clinical experience.

I live in beautiful Carlsbad, California, with my husband, and two boys. My passions are making artisan handcrafted jewelry, gardening, reading, and caring for our boys and our amazing dog, Waters. One of the things that personally drew me to health and well-being coaching was my own experience juggling the demands of being a busy mother with the needs for self-care and how that can often get lost in the busyness and joys of being a mom and the responsibilities of everyday life. I was overwhelmed as many moms are in how to truly care for oneself while constantly taking care of others. Through my work, I look to help others struggling with the challenges of balancing the various responsibilities and pressures of life to find ways to care for oneself.

My Own Experience As A Coaching Client

I experienced first-hand the positive impact of health and well-being coaching in my own life. As students in the Duke University program, we were required to not only practice our health coaching skills with fellow students, but to also be clients.

Being a client was transformational as I worked toward goals developed along the way. The first was being able to address back pain issues I’d had for over 12 months. Health coaching pushed me to act on earlier recommendations by my doctor to try physical therapy and to keep up with the PT exercises which has had huge benefits. It was a concrete example for me on how doctors can tell us what we should do (e.g., whether it is physical therapy, exercise or weight loss, practice good sleep hygiene, or following specific dietary recommendations) but it is another thing entirely to choose to do it and follow through and strategize the ways we can fit these changes into our lives. Another change I owe to health coaching has been getting more sleep and better quality sleep which had evaded me the last few years. Better sleep has also improved other areas of my health and well-being. Lastly, being coached was also a catalyst for me to take proactive steps forward in recruiting my first coaching clients.

I still encounter challenges in these areas but when I begin to get knocked off course, especially when things come up in life, I know better how to get back on track. Health coaching helped me to consciously recognize the triggers for my less desirable habits and develop the strategies to counteract and overcome them.