If anyone would have told me 20 years ago, that I would now be helping people relieve their symptoms by connecting the dots between their body, brain and beliefs, I would’ve thought you were cuckoo… I was NOT that person.  

I grew up in athletics–specifically as a gymnast and track & field athlete.  My unfortunate genetic predisposition for hypermobility led me to an athletic career riddled with injuries.  Most significant, was back and leg pain that began in my junior year of college.  Starting out as an annoyance, the pain progressed over time to be constant and debilitating.  Over the following 2-3 years, I searched everywhere for answers. I saw multiple spine specialists, neurologists, physical therapists, massage therapists and chiropractors.  I had multiple X-rays, MRI’s, facet injections & epidural injections.  The final option I was offered: a multi-level spinal fusion surgery that “had a high chance of breaking” due to my hypermobility.  I politely declined.

As I progressed through DPT school, I began to lose faith in the ability of the PT discipline to help me deal with my pain.  If I can’t help myself, how am I going to help others? 

I finally found hope in a PT who specialized in a newer treatment (at the time) called Postural Restoration (PRI).  I remember doing a PRI targeted activity for the first time, standing up, and realizing my back & leg pain were GONE!  Although short lived, this was the first time I had experienced relief in years & I was determined to follow the program.  Following more months of rehab, my pain lessened and became much more manageable. Once convinced, I wanted to learn and use PRI to help others.   I started taking PRI courses even before graduating with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT).

After graduation, I moved to Georgia to work as a spine specialist at a nationally known orthopedic clinic and became a single mom to my first daughter.  Three years later, I moved back to MN to be near my family. 

My entire PT career has been dedicated to helping people (like me), who are suffering from chronic, multi-site pain and hypermobility that has been unresponsive to previous chiropractic, injection, surgical, and therapeutic attempts to control pain.  I became postural restoration certified in 2011.  It has been so rewarding to help people who have all but lost hope, and are now enjoying positive, pain free results.  

Despite now having the tools to manage my hypermobility and back pain, I found myself on a health journey of another kind over the following 5-6 years.  The stress and responsibilities of a full time managerial job, finding and marrying the man of my dreams, and adding 3 more children to my one and his three (yes, that’s a total of 7 in our family) have been more than challenging.

The ongoing management of complex family relationships, a new marriage, and motherhood x 7, took its toll on my health gradually.  I found myself exhausted, irritable, frequently ill and generally feeling like a failure.

I have always had a personal interest in nutrition & was fascinated by a handful of patients who shared that further improvement came from a change to their diet.  I decided to learn more about nutrition and enrolled in the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) program.  

Running my own personal labs uncovered healing opportunities in multiple systems that I wasn’t even aware I was struggling with (like hormones, digestion, liver and more.)  I applied the things I learned to my own health challenges and began to heal myself further.

While studying for certification in this program, I met someone who has become a valued mentor to me who introduced me to Quantum Neuro Reset Therapy (QNRT) and said that this technique helped her “be her best self.”  This technique was much different and challenged my “western medicine” brain. During the coursework, I found myself drastically changed as a person.  I now find myself more patient, calm, forgiving and more tolerant than I ever have been in my life.  It has affected every aspect of my life – I’m a better wife, mother, friend and practitioner.  

The combination of specialized postural restoration therapy, QNRT & targeted diet and lifestyle interventions (discovered through lab testing) has changed me.  My pain and hypermobility are well-managed. My eczema, allergies and hormonal swings are under control (or non-existent) and my attitude is much more welcoming.

I will always be a work in progress; but, I am thankful that when I get off track with my health, my pain, my life balance, or my mentality,  I have the tools (and people) in my life to make the correction.  I am extremely passionate about helping others learn to make corrections in their lives, where needed, for a better quality of life.

This is why I have chosen to utilize all 3 avenues in my practice.  I know this works because I have lived it.  I’ve seen it work for so many and I want to share it with you.