I believe authenticity is important to building trust. That said, please don’t take this bio as a sign of my ego speaking. My goal is merely to assure you that I have dedicated my life to understanding disease and how it connects with our personhood.

My journey began with rigorous academic study that culminated in a PhD in immunology. While I consider this an important pillar in my understanding of disease, it turned out to only be a stepping stone into a much deeper understanding of suffering.

Throughout my career, the peer-reviewed publication that I am most passionate about is not in immunology, but was instead published in the journal “Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment.” The paper, entitled Subjective Dimensions of Meaning in the Clinical Encounter: Unifying Personhood and Disease, describes my own struggles with GERD and how I came to understand and overcome these struggles.

My path has not been without challenges. I spent 19 years working in the pharmaceutical industry. From the outside, I am sure many people would say they were successful years. My family and I enjoyed financial success and I held a respected position within the biomedical field.

However, on the inside, I found my life had become intolerable. I felt guilty and afraid to embrace and walk my truth. During that time, I witnessed firsthand how the system prioritizes temporary symptomatic fixes over genuine healing. I have lost former colleagues—loved ones all—to chronic illnesses despite their steadfast faith in the biomedical model. Others cling to their “objective” beliefs in biomedicine, shaped by their reliance on it for their livelihoods—just as I once did.

It was also during this time that I began to experience the symptoms of GERD. For five years, I battled the disease. As many people with GERD can attest, my journey was marked by initial uncertainty around diagnosis, then the relief of medication that provided symptomatic relief. 

However, the understanding that this medication was the only thing between me and a lifetime of pain didn’t sit easily.

Deep down I felt ashamed and associated this shame with my declining health. How could I continue in a field supposedly dedicated to alleviating people’s suffering when I couldn’t even get a handle on my own? How could others trust me with their health when I couldn’t even help myself? {I once knew a neurologist who treated his own bowel cancer rather than submit to his colleagues for a proper diagnosis.}

In my increasingly desperate search for answers, I was referred to Dr. Brian Broom, often regarded in his industry as the “doctor of last resort”. Although my initial concerns were centered around my allergies rather than GERD, our reacquaintance—after meeting five years earlier at an Immunology conference—turned out to be a truly fortunate experience. Little did I know that this fateful meeting would not only lead to my eventual healing from GERD but also transform my perspective on chronic illness as a whole. It marked a significant turning point in my understanding of health and healing.

It may be hard to believe, but I now thank my struggles with GERD for the courage to leave my biomedical training and embark on a journey of true healing for body and mind.

After I healed my GERD and began to address the other chronic illnesses in my life, my passion for helping others returned. I wanted to see if a meaning-based story approach could help other people just like it had helped me to heal. For three years I worked as a health coach to help others through their own healing journeys.