Family in Focus®

I’m a board-certified pediatrician, lifestyle physician, emotional health educator—and a recovering fixer.

For years, I practiced traditional medicine in military and civilian settings. I followed the guidelines. I tracked the growth charts. I offered the same advice parents have heard for decades: eat better, move more, and everything will fall into place.

Except it didn’t.

I started to notice a pattern: families were stressed, overwhelmed, and scared—especially when it came to their children’s weight. Kids were struggling with emotional eating, anxiety, and body image. And the more we focused on control (portions, numbers, outcomes), the more disconnected everyone became—from their bodies, from each other, and from themselves.

So I stopped following the script.

Through my own continued education, I pursued trauma-informed care, neuroscience & positive psychology, emotional health, design thinking, feminist and weight-inclusive care—I began asking different questions:

What if “health” isn’t about weight at all?

What if the root of so many family health concerns is emotional disconnection?

What if the answer isn’t control, but connection?

That’s where Family in Focus® was born.

Family in Focus is the space I created for parents who want a new way forward—where emotional health is at the center of family health. Where kids are not pathologized or pressured, and parents don’t have to feel like they’re failing if their child grows outside the “normal” curve.

We talk about emotional eating—but we start with the emotions.
We build healthy habits—but we ditch the shame.
We raise healthy families—but we don’t follow the food rules that broke us.

This is weight-inclusive, trauma-informed, eating disorder–preventive family health. All Feelings are Welcome, and All Bodies are Welcome.

And yes, I bring humor with me. Improv and stand-up comedy have taught me how to meet people where they are—with curiosity, creativity, and the occasional mic drop. Because nothing changes if we’re too scared to talk about it—and I believe healing can be both brave and lighthearted.

If you're a parent, a provider, or a person who knows the system isn't working, let's talk. I’m building a community of families, professionals, and institutions ready to center emotional health and connection—because that’s what creates real, sustainable well-being.

Let’s raise healthy families. From the inside out.