About Me
Life coach, mindfulness meditation teacher, team-building facilitator, and recovered chronic pain sufferer.
I know that recovery from even the scariest symptoms is possible, no matter how long you’ve had them. I’ve lived through it myself, and it’s become my passion to help others work through the fear, frustration, and hopelessness that accompanies chronic pain.
A Short Version of My Long Story
I felt like my life was cruising along pretty nicely when I was diagnosed with a torn tendon in my shoulder that needed surgery. Suddenly, I had to face missing work, a long and painful recovery, and putting my life on hold. My response was a combination of anger, frustration, and fear.
My surgery went well, but during recovery I found myself constantly worried that my shoulder wouldn’t heal properly, even though my surgeon told me I was doing well.
Not long into my recovery, I started experiencing pain in my good shoulder... and then my neck... and down my arms. My anger and frustration gradually morphed into a pervasive sense of anxiety.
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I was then diagnosed with spinal stenosis in my neck and started physical therapy. It didn’t help, and neither did a steroid injection. My anxiety continued to build, and I began viewing myself as a damaged, fragile person.
The more anxious and fearful I became, the more symptoms I developed — to the point where there was literally no part of me, from my scalp to the soles of my feet, that didn’t experience strange and alarming sensations.
This continued for over a year, despite the many specialists I was seeing, therapies I was trying, medications I was taking, and diagnostic tests I was enduring. Nobody could tell me what was wrong with me, and not a single treatment gave more than temporary relief. Each new symptom sent me into another round of internet searching — "Google spirals" that inevitably led me from one catastrophic conclusion to another.​
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Sound familiar? Or maybe a bit triggering? Well, take a few deep breaths. Because things got
much better ​for me, and I believe they can for you, too.
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My recovery started over a cup of coffee with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. She had suffered from chronic pain for decades but was now pain-free, off all medications, and looking more grounded and relaxed than I’d ever seen her. Her recovery wasn’t the result of a wonder drug, a new therapy, or a change of diet. Instead, she had addressed a nervous system that was stuck in danger mode and come to terms with stress, difficult emotions, and even past traumas.
My untouched coffee grew cold as I took in her story. She described symptoms that moved around the body, had no concrete medical cause, and wouldn’t respond to any treatment. Then she told me about the personality traits most common in chronic pain sufferers: perfectionism, people-pleasing, a tendency toward anxiety, stoicism, and more.
“Ring any bells?” she asked.
“It rings EVERY bell,” was my reply.
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This was my introduction to a whole new way of looking at the mind-body connection, and the role of the brain and nervous system in creating real pain by interpreting normally neutral sensations as threats. This kind of pain is actually learned by the brain — it’s called neuroplastic pain.
The reason the doctors couldn’t tell me why I felt so bad was that nothing was physically wrong with me. I just had a hypervigilant nervous system that anticipated danger at every turn and was in dire need of a reset.
Why I Do What I Do
My recovery process was a real DIY job, cobbling together every resource I could find: books, podcasts, videos, meditation, journaling, somatic exercises, and more. It wasn’t the straightest pathway, but it got me back to doing everything I was doing before the surgery — with a new sense of gratitude and adventure. I hike, I run, I go out with friends, and I enjoy active vacations with my family.
It also gave me a new perspective on past experiences, like my 10-year bout with chronic migraines that started soon after I changed jobs, bought a house, and had a baby in the span of several months. In retrospect, the headaches were a big “WTF?!” from my brain. They subsided only when I adapted to the pressures of a new job, home ownership, and fatherhood. Had I known then what I know now, I estimate I could have spared myself nearly 1,000 headaches.
Healing from chronic pain was one of the most impactful experiences of my life. I decided that helping others in similar circumstances would be one of the most meaningful things I could do with my life.
I know exactly how it feels when your body seems like it’s working against you. Chronic pain is much more than physical discomfort — there’s guilt, shame, isolation, and a loss of identity that can make things seem hopeless.
But as I learned, none of that has to be a life sentence.
As a coach, I’m dedicated to taking as much of the guesswork as possible out of the recovery process. I’ll work with you to create a personalized healing plan based on a growing body of clinical research, coupled with my own experience. I’ve made my share of mistakes so you don’t have to.
Feeling better, with the family in Iceland.
Training & Experience to Move You Forward.
I hold certifications as both a Holistic Life Coach and Mindbody Syndrome Practitioner through the MindBodyFood Institute—an internationally-accredited training organization and one of the only coaching programs focused specifically on working with neuroplastic symptoms.
I'm also trained in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), a system of psychological techniques that retrains the brain to accurately interpret and respond to signals from the body, breaking the cycle of chronic pain.
In addition to this training, I have over two decades of experience designing and facilitating programs in mindfulness meditation, peer-to-peer coaching, and group dynamics/team building. My coaching approach combines the latest pain neuroscience with contemplative practice, deep reflection, and building connections to enhance well-being and self-awareness.
