nice to meet you!

For more than twenty years, I have advocated for eating disorder recovery, drawing from my own victory over Anorexia in 2003.

My healing journey began at an inpatient eating disorder treatment ranch, where a powerful bond with a therapy horse named Jake helped me choose life over my eating disorder. Through Jake, I experienced God’s healing in a profound way, to finally win a sixteen-year battle over this disease. When I returned home, I abandoned plans to pursue a PhD degree to follow God’s calling into equine therapy despite no prior horse experience. I immediately volunteered with a local equine therapy center, began learning natural horsemanship, and soon earned certifications in both the EAGALA equine therapy model (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) and in Parelli Natural Horsemanship.

I worked as an Equine Specialist for Horse Sense of the Carolinas, an outpatient equine therapy and learning center in Marshall NC, and later as the Coordinator of the equine therapy program at Eliada Home for Children in Asheville NC. During eight years in the field, I helped children and adults facing a range of mental health challenges, including eating disorders. I was also one of the original volunteers for T.H.E. (Treatment, Healing, Education) Center for Disordered Eating (now the Carolina Resource Center for Eating Disorders since 2016), the only eating-disorder referral organization in North Carolina.

One year into this new career path, I wrote an article for the magazine Western North Carolina Woman about my profound experience with Jake as a patient.

The article received national attention when the National Eating Disorders Association featured it as the first recovery story on the “Voices of Hope” page of the NEDA website. Over the years, hundreds of readers have contacted me in response to my story, and multiple blogs have reposted the article. I have been featured in local newspapers, national magazines such as Hallmark Magazine and the Equine Journal, and on radio spots. I speak about my recovery journey at universities, colleges, high schools, national conferences, and church ministries and events.

The story of Jake continued to grow as I began having horses of my own. My first horse, Captain, died after only three years, but my second horse, Penny, became the powerful motivation I needed to put my recovery story on paper.

I adopted Penny as a therapy horse for the children’s residential equine therapy program I oversaw.

Penny was an isolated, green twelve-year-old mare whom I trained daily for the well-being of both Penny and the residents. One year later, Penny suffered a horrific injury that nearly took her life. For nine months, I worked around the clock with an army of volunteers, veterinary staff, and students to keep Penny alive. Neither Penny nor I would give up, and Penny made a miraculous full recovery.

This momentous experience inspired me to write the upcoming inspirational pet memoir, To Be Herd. It is the true story of how God brings a horse and her owner from the brink of death to form the herd they always desired.

Centered around the life-threatening accident of Penny and its connection to the healing of my devastating eating disorder, To Be Herd is a moving story of partnership, loyalty, and God’s power of restoration. The book speaks to the deep human desire to belong, especially for those wounded by rejection, betrayal, and loss.

I am grateful for my healing journey, and for the opportunity to share my life experiences with others to bring hope, encouragement, and inspiration.