Frequently Asked Questions

I cannot make any guarantees of complete healing or cures (in fact, if anyone tries to convince you they can “fix” you, I suggest you run the other way!). Though conventional medicine can provide lifesaving treatment for acute injury and well-defined illnesses, it is often not well-suited to help us understand and reverse chronic illness. You’ve probably been to many doctors, and likely have not received the care and true solutions you seek – perhaps you feel you’re just receiving bandages for your symptoms. Most conventional doctors are trained with a very narrow focus regarding body systems (i.e. dermatology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, etc.), see dozens of patients each day, and also are organized around a fairly mechanistic view of the body (trained to use mostly medications and surgery to target symptoms).

I am a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Restorative Wellness Practitioner, certified jointly through the Nutritional Therapy Association and Restorative Wellness Solutions, with 1.5 years of formal training and hundreds of hours of continuing education. I offer a functional, whole-being approach, a curious and investigative nature, and ample time to listen to and consider your whole story. I engage with my clients as a teacher and guide, aiming to empower you to listen to and learn to interpret the meanings of your symptoms. I have helped many people with long-standing, complex and ‘mysterious’ issues to reduce and eliminate those symptoms over time. It doesn’t happen overnight, but with sustained effort, a spirit of investigation, and a sense of possibility, we can do a lot together.

Empowering my clients with knowledge about their individual needs and setting them up for success in reaching their goals is the most important and gratifying part of my work. Support is critical and plentiful. I will meet you wherever you are when we begin our work together, and we’ll co-create your path toward your goals with visits as frequent as you desire.

I cannot predict this, as everyone is a bioindivdual – with unique physiological needs and goals. Some people find what they need (a great kick-start or resolution of a small acute issue) from 3-5 sessions together, many decide to work with me for 4-6 months (the time it often takes to complete a focused gut healing protocol), and a few discover so much benefit from our visits together that they schedule periodic sessions for years.

The intake session (90 minutes) is a blend of information-gathering, education, clarification of goals, and creation of a few foundational, initial recommendations. You will leave with a handful of educational handouts, new clarity about your body’s needs, lots of inspiration, and some patterns around which to begin building awareness and experimentation. Follow-up appointments (usually 60 minutes) mostly consist of continued conversations around how each set of previous recommendations are landing for you – resources and roadblocks that we can build on/around. If we determine that functional testing is likely to help advance your healing, one of your early visits will take the form of a report-of-findings – an interpretation of your lab results and an explanation of my detailed recommendations (food, supplements, and lifestyle) based on those results. Occasionally, I will set aside one of our sessions to perform a physical examination (clothed) to determine what organ systems in your body are most in need of support, and which supplements or foods will be most nourishing and healing for you.

My initial intake session fee is $245; this includes 1.5 hours of time together in addition to at least 1 hour of my time studying your symptom questionnaire, food journal, health history, and supplement list to prepare for our visit. Report of Findings sessions (75 minutes) where I explain my interpretation of your lab results and my detailed healing protocol recommendations are billed at $200. Follow-up sessions (30-60 minutes) are $145/hour. Lab testing and recommended supplements costs are separate.

Your health is worth the investment. Providers who are covered by insurance are also limited by those companies as to what kind of care they can provide and how many minutes they can spend with you during each appointment. Many of my clients report paying high monthly premiums and copays at every doctor visit for care that often feels incomplete. Because I am not aligned with the insurance systems, I’m also not limited by them. I spend 60-90 minutes with you each time we meet – ample time to dig into the nuances of your health stories and draw crucial connections that will allow for deep healing. You will learn as we go about how to listen to and interpret your body’s signals, so you may rebalance systems on your own with increasing skill and confidence to prevent future illness. In addition to this increased value of deeper health, fewer doctor visits and medications down the road will translate to fewer dollars spent on health care.

Recognizing that we need help to make big changes can bring up fear and resistance. “Shouldn’t I be able to figure this stuff out on my own?” “I know what ‘eating healthy’ means, so why can’t I seem to get it right?” “Maybe it’s just not possible to feel really well.” The truth is, we all need each other to learn and grow, and we almost never feel like we’re ready when we’re on the verge of a new personal expansion. It’s scary to be on the edge of something! As a Nutritional Therapist, I work both in the functional realm of the physical body and in the emotional and intuitive realms of our complex beings. I’ll help you reconnect to yourself. I’ll be here to guide you as you grow and heal – to reflect your goals back to you and help you see the possibilities and paths to a lighter, brighter you. Do you feel a bit nervous at the thought of starting work with me? Perfect. You’re ready. Let me help you translate that tension into excitement and action!

This can be a challenging situation. We know ourselves best, and in the end, we are the only ones who can truly determine which path toward growth and healing feels right. However, if we are in partnership, we often share power and influence with respect to finances, schedules, and support. Please invite your partner to a free 15-minute phone call with me (and you) so that I may answer his/her questions and describe how I believe working with me is likely to benefit you.

I share a beautiful, converted craftsman home-turned-office space with 5 other women wellness practitioners. We’re collectively known as Resonance Natural Health Group and we’re located at 1416 W. Washington St. in Boise’s North End.

I typically work with clients on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 9am and 4pm, but I can be flexible with clients who need to meet outside those times or days.

Absolutely! I often work with clients in other locations using the Zoom platform, so that we can see each other, and I can screen-share lab results and other documents in real time. I work equally as effectively with people at a distance as I do when they’re sitting in my office.

Yes. I work with children experiencing allergies (food and environmental), eczema, autoimmune diseases, blood sugar dysregulation and digestive dysfunction. I meet with the child and parent(s) together so that the child can be engaged and empowered in the process of healing, and so they can hear the recommendations coming from someone other than the parent. I also have experience addressing chronic health issues with my own child, so I understand many of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the situation.

My focus as a functional nutritional therapist is to investigate how your physiological function can be optimized to prevent imbalances that lead to illnesses. My recommendations often include shifting food choices and expanding into learning new food preparation skills. I provide many resources to help you in these areas, but I do not provide the services of meal planning or cooking directly.

I highly discourage people setting up appointments for friends or loved ones. I have found that if we want change for those we love more than they want it for themselves, then no amount of “help” we give them to make that change will be effective in the long run. I’m happy to speak with your partner or friend on a free 15-minute phone call to help them answer any questions they may have, but ultimately, they need to book their own initial appointment with me.

RESTART® Sugar Detox Program

Yes, you would spend less money, and you would have access to a program that has worked for others in the past. If you choose to sign up for RESTART® instead, you will get all these additional elements to help you reach your goals:

Group support – meeting weekly with others going through the same experiences, cheering each other on, and hearing your story reflected in theirs.

Personalized guidance from a trained Functional Nutritional Therapist for your individual needs as you progress through the detox.

Accountability and inspiration to keep showing up for yourself – weekly in-person sessions inspire continued effort and learning

Yes, choosing to join RESTART® is a big step for most people – very few people come to the first session without some level of trepidation… this is natural and an indication that you’re on the edge of a new opportunity for growth. I encourage you to lean in, make a commitment to yourself to try something new, be vulnerable, and expand your horizons. Also, the program is not black or white – you may choose to modify my recommendations and still experience many benefits. You also may surprise yourself in what you can do and how you can feel – I always like to say, “Anyone can do anything for 3 weeks”!

The food choice recommendations in RESTART® are quite flexible when it comes to sensitivities; there are no required foods that participants must eat. In fact, many of the foods that we choose to avoid during the program are chosen expressly because of their high potential for sensitivity or allergy. The only restriction that is not compatible with RESTART® is a strict vegan diet. Ovolacto vegetarians (people who include eggs and/or dairy, but no meats) are able to do quite well on RESTART®.

A number of my past participants have missed one of the 5 classes (due to illness, traveling, prior commitment, etc.) and still benefited significantly from attending the program. In addition, you may find that once you begin the program and feel its benefits in your body and life, you’ll start to reprioritize your choices and feel compelled to shift things around in order to be able to attend. If you just cannot make your schedule fit inside the structure of my group classes, I do also offer the same RESTART® curriculum in a personalized one-on-one format, which can be scheduled approximately weekly at your convenience.

Though we hold a brief sharing circle at the beginning of each of the 5 sessions, no one is required to share if they don’t feel comfortable doing so. Sometimes just hearing other people’s stories and noticing how similar parts of those stories are to our own is plenty of inspiration. Class sizes are small (10 or fewer), so we do get to know each other quickly, and often even those who feel shy at the start feel more open, and even excited, to share as the weeks go on.