Before moving to Williamsburg, Virginia, I lived in New York City for 18 years, with experience working as a licensed massage therapist, medical anthropology adjunct professor and anatomy teacher (for artists, massage therapists, yoga teachers and undergraduates). I completed a PhD from Columbia University, writing a medical anthropology dissertation on the variety of treatment approaches for low back pain. It was directly inspired by my years of teaching anatomy, practicing massage and listening to people’s stories.

Since 2011, I have worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner, mainly in urgent care settings, with additional experience in orthopedics, primary care, addiction treatment and hospital follow ups for uninsured patients. In the last ten years I have taught Medicine and Culture at the College of William and Mary five times as an adjunct professor. This has given me a unique recurring opportunity to reflect on my varied professional experiences within a larger cross cultural context, deepening my commitment to an eclectic understanding of health, disease and recovery. It has always struck me that most medical approaches throughout human history have had a vocabulary for mind/body/emotion/spirit/social approaches to healing, while my own culture is limited by slashes, hyphens and silos of specialization. I have the greatest respect for the many physicians, surgeons and other healthcare professionals I have worked with and appreciation for how effective and appropriate surgery and pharmaceutical medications are in the right circumstances. I also appreciate upstream preventative lifestyle approaches that help prevent some problems downstream.

I have completed coursework from the Institute of Functional Medicine, studied Nutritional Psychiatry, became a Certified Health Coach from the National Society for Health Coaches and in one of my more enjoyable recent classes, completed a course in Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine for United Kingdom NHS General Practitioners. I was proud to help facilitate a weekly donation of fresh from the garden seasonal produce to low income patients, with help from the great people at Williamsburg Community Growers. I believe eating the rainbow from local gardens is a very special form of medicine.

This website describes my private practice where I have been able to weave together many strands of my interests to provide unique creative integrative healthcare that continues to evolve.

Link to past reviews of Susan as a nurse practitioner

Link to an article on Susan in a local paper