I found my way to the healing arts for many of the same reasons you might be here today. My kids and I had chronic health issues that weren’t getting better with conventional treatment. I wanted to find a natural way to heal, and I wanted to be able to help others do the same.

My goal has always been to be a practitioner who could help whole families—effectively, without nasty side effects, treating the roots of problems, as well as the symptoms.

Family Tree Acupuncture & Wellness is the culmination of my vision. I get to work with amazing people every day, helping them find lasting relief and wellness for chronic conditions that are not finding relief from conventional medicine alone. It is my goal to help bring this medicine into the mainstream in our community, both with everyday people and the western medical community about other safe and effective treatment options outside of conventional western medicine.

Over the years I’ve trained in many healing modalities (see the list below), exploring ways to help people in deeper and more powerful ways. I’m a huge nerd, and love to study just about anything about the body and healing arts. I may geek out when you have questions—I get really excited about this stuff!

My path in the healing arts started in the late 90s. Looking to figure out my own chronic pain and headaches, and to have a positive impact in the world, I left a career in banking to study massage and bodywork.

Initially I planned to study Chinese medicine shortly after finishing massage school. However, grad school was postponed for awhile when I had my three amazing kids. The fullness of family life, young kids and running my bodywork practice filled my days, and I studied other healing modalities along the way, like Craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation and Reiki, along the way.

I found intense motivation to go back to school when my whole family got extremely sick with the Swine flu when it first hit in 2009. After we “recovered,” we went through months of chronic health issues, including constantly getting sick, major asthma issues, chronic ear infections and fevers. Worse, it triggered and autoimmune issues and crushing fatigue for me.

Although we had top-notch, caring medical doctors, the months of antibiotics, steroids and other meds seemed to hurt as much as help. I felt helpless both as a parent and with my own health. I knew I had to find other ways to help my family.

I went back to Grad school to study acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine with three grade-school-aged kids and a massage practice in 2012. (Thank goodness for my incredibly patient and supportive husband!) I graduated three and half years and nearly 3000 classroom hours later, and immediately started this practice.

My family has had great improvements in our health and wellbeing using Chinese medicine, acupuncture and manual therapies like craniosacral and visceral work. It’s helped us immensely with many things like hormone imbalance, autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue and chronic muscle and nerve pain. It’s dramatically reduced migraines, allergies and asthma symptoms. It’s even helped smooth emotions and reduce anxiety.

In April 2021, I completed my Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, with a focus on Integrative Medicine. With this, I am better able to help educate patients, the community and the western medical complex in the ways we can help improve health outcomes. We are blessed to live in a time when we have all these options to help people find the best possible options for their unique situations.

My family has been my inspiration and great teachers. I learned how to be creative in treating kids, with or without needles, and the importance of treating the whole family. Now, I get to help my family, and many others in our community, to be their healthiest, naturally.