About

My Background and Interest in Stress

I was born in Romania along the coast of the Black Sea and emigrated to the United States as a child. When I arrived New York City, I needed to quickly learn English and worked hard to integrate into my new community. Not only was this challenging for me, but I also witnessed the affects that stress had on the rest of my family, particularly since many of our elders and support network remained in Europe.

Luckily, I grew up around family members knowledgeable about health and natural therapies. They’ve been farming and practicing medicine for centuries, many of them pioneers in their field and inventors of new techniques. This influence, as well as my parents, who are both talented engineers, inspired my career journey.

After college I followed my interest in digital technology and quickly joined a startup. It was there that I experienced first-hand the harmful health effects of stress and overwork. I developed extreme fatigue, unexplained allergies, gained excessive weight, and became pre-diabetic. My doctor prescribed anti-histamines that left me drowsy and barely able to do the job I enjoyed. I needed to find a better way to restore my health and have a long-term strategy so I could be resilient, even during difficult times.

After a bit of resistance, I finally decided to listen to my parents and grandparents and reinstated the health practices they taught me. This, with a bit of my own nutritional research, helped me start my journey toward health.

I was so amazed by my recovery that I wanted to share it with others, which led me to retrain and study naturopathic medicine at the world-renowned Bastyr University, where I earned my Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree. As a testament to the medicine, with every year that I was in a stressful medical program, I became healthier as I applied the therapies we were taught.

Now I use these tools to help me recover from the recent loss of my beautiful spouse of 20 years. You can read more about this journey on my blog, ‘Lotions and Potions’.

Impact Medicine for Extremely Stressful Times

Since they are closely related, much of my work focuses on the intersection between hormonal, digestive, brain, and immune health and the effect stress can have on these systems. I frequently help folks impacted by adrenal dysregulation (stress/burnout), Ulcerative Colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, food intolerances, GERD, constipation, diarrhea, metabolic syndrome (weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol), hypothyroidism, perimenopause, and menopause.

I also have advanced training in environmental medicine, a branch of medicine focused on the chemical exposures we have in our daily lives and the impacts these exposures have on our health.

Therapeutic Approach and Tools

I use herbal medicine, nutritional supplementation, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, diet and lifestyle counseling in my practice to help clients restore their health. I have extensive training in how these therapies interact with medications or surgery. I support an integrative approach whenever possible to ensure client safety and support optimal health for each individual.

I see my role as a partner on your healing journey, providing you with deep insight into your medical issues and offering evidence-based, time-tested treatments and suggestions. With so much information available it can be overwhelming to know what works at all, or what will work for you. I help clients cut through the information overload providing only proven techniques tailored to your needs.

When I’m not working with clients, you’ll find me enjoying the parks and local neighborhoods in San Francisco.