Jen Briar-Bonpane, LCSW, CINHC, FNLP

When I was 24, my dad became ill. After weeks in the hospital, I got him out of intensive care and moved him across the country so I could take care of him. The next morning, I started grad school and returned to work. I cared for him as he lived his last year, a shell of his former self due to diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

A month after my dad died, I went to my doctor to ask what I could do to prevent getting diabetes and Alzheimer’s myself. I knew I never wanted to go through what I watched him experience. My question was met with surprise, bemusement, and irritation that I was taking an appointment slot to discuss such a far-off concern. The doctor told me there was really nothing I could do, “genes are genes… don’t worry about it too much.” That was it. At a moment of potential transformation I was told my choices wouldn’t really matter down the road. Genes may determine my destiny and I should try avoid thinking about it.

So I did. I went on with my full life of grad school, social life, theater, hiking, volunteering, dance, and work. I ate and drank whatever I wanted and overworked and under-slept. Two years later, I could no longer ignore the SOS from my body as I struggled with hives, moods, weight loss resistance, frequent illness, dental problems, allergies, migraines, anxiety, aches and pains, fevers, hair loss, hormonal imbalances, and digestive issues. At that point in my life, my go-to health solution was to run more miles each week to do what I thought was balancing out any and all stress on my body in the form of poor diet, trauma history, limited stress management skills, overworking, sleep deprivation, happy hour, and multiple double mochas each day.

At some point, no matter how far I ran, I wasn’t feeling better. I was getting worse. Growing up with parents who worked in social justice and who were dedicated to service, I learned early on that focusing on my own well being was selfish and should be secondary to the “work.” For many years, numbing (and eventually running) was my best friend when it came to dealing with emotional, spiritual, and physical pain.

I finally went to therapy and made some important changes in my lifestyle and diet that helped me feel a bit better and allowed me to turn away from health again and focus on my work. It wasn’t until many years later that I came to understand that healing is a lifelong process and I had to embrace my body as I would my best friend in order to really get healthier.

A few years after the birth of my second child, my health issues truly brought me to my knees. I was so sick that I missed many days of work each month, missed social events, and often couldn’t be the mom I needed to be. Running made me sicker so I even stopped that after 20 years of consistent practice.

Back I went to my conventional doctor who who couldn’t find anything “wrong” and didn’t want to do any major testing because it might “open a pandora’s box.” I was in the wilderness of illness and didn’t know where to turn. I was getting sicker and sicker and knew there was something wrong with me. I didn’t want to cover the symptoms with medications I was offered without figuring out what was going on… I wanted to get to the bottom of it and get better. I had to take care of my best friend, my body. I started researching and trying things (meditation, dietary changes, supplements, etc) and my health improved, bit by bit. I sought out functional practitioners and finally got to the root causes of my symptoms and committed to making the changes that were necessary to heal and thrive. It has been a long journey and one I’m still on every day.

Looking back, I wish I’d had someone to partner with me earlier…to believe me instead of telling me there was “nothing wrong.” I wish I’d had someone to help me connect the dots and figure out what was going to help me get better. I am called to be that partner to the clients who come to me for help and guidance. I provide the support and unwavering commitment to their journey that I wish had been offered to me when I was sick, scared, and seeking answers. Ultimately, I guide clients to take control of their unique health and be their body’s best friend.

Nutrition and functional health approaches changed my life and brought me back to health. As a result of being sick, I am healthier now than I have ever been. After 20 years of working in mental health as a licensed clinician, I went back to school to become a functional nutrition practitioner so I could bring more tools to my work with clients.