Hi! I'm Amelia.
Veterinarian, Integrative Health and Life Coach, Consultant, Speaker, and Advocate for Change in Vet Med
I'm so glad our path have crossed. One of my core values is connection and I love connecting with like-hearted people.
Since earning my VMD and VBMA certificate from the University of Pennsylvania in 2014, I have worked in small animal general practice, urgent care, and locum which has provided the opportunity to work in over 30 different practices including corporate, privately owned, mobile, high and low income, and both toxic and thriving cultures.
That experience combined with my extensive and holistic training and personal journey recovering from burnout has given me a unique perspective about why the vet profession is struggling.
I've used that insight to develop a variety of resources and programs to make it easier for veterinary professionals and practices to be thriving "unicorns" who are breaking the norm in order to create positive, sustainable change in their own lives and to lead by example in creating a much-needed paradigm shift in our profession.
You can learn more about my story, experience, and certifications below.
My Story: Why I'm A Vet Who Also Helps Humans
I was 6 when I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian.
From a very early age, I knew how competitive it was to get into vet school which means I don’t remember a time growing up when I didn’t feel pressure to be the responsible good girl, who followed all the rules, got perfect grades, and set a good example for my little sister so that I could achieve my dream.
In my mind, one mistake could mean not achieving the dream that had already become a part of my identity.
And it worked!
I excelled in high school, majored in Biology at Wheaton College (MA), got into UPenn's veterinary school my first time applying, and achieved my childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian.
And it felt amazing - for a while.
Stressful, but amazing.
But slowly, things started to change.
On the outside, it looked like I had it all. I was living my childhood dream, had a great home, loving husband, nice vacations, and was healthy and active.
On the inside, it was a very different story.
I started waking up dreading work and wishing the day was already over.
Yet by the time I finally got home, it felt numb and irritable after a day of being "on" - smiling and looking calm while being a pressure cooker of anxiety and unprocessed emotions on the inside.
I lived for days off to relax - except recharging never actually happened because my to-do list was never ending.
I was living for retirement, imagining that would be when I'd finally get to enjoy life.
I was wishing decades of my life away for a future that wasn’t even guaranteed.
Physically, my body was trying to tell me this approach wasn’t working for me, too.
Despite having very healthy habits (striving for perfection applied to all aspects of my life including my body), I didn’t feel healthy.
I experienced random crippling stomach aches and other GI signs, brain fog every afternoon, and was exhausted. Despite that, tests were normal and doctors told me I was super healthy.
It sounds totally obvious that I was burned out, but it took me a long time to realize that.
I knew that I was stressed, but I didn't think I was that stressed. I also believed that I loved being a vet and that I was doing all the right things.
The reality that the dream I had worked my entire life for was making me miserable wasn’t exactly convenient. My identity had been tied to being a veterinarian forever.
Eventually, my body gave me the wake up call.
Despite my healthy habits and looking healthy (striving for perfection applied to all aspects of my life including my body which never met my standards), I didn't feel healthy.
I struggled with random severe stomach pains, afternoon brain fog, and exhaustion.
When doctors dismissed my symptoms (and praised me for being healthy), I turned to a functional medicine doctor.
She asked me a simple question:
"Do you like being a veterinarian?"
For the first time, instead of cheerfully insisting "yes", I started to cry.
Realizing I was burned out made me feel stuck, ashamed, and alone.
Judgment caged me in:
Why was I struggling when it seemed like everyone else was doing just fine?
I had invested so much time, money, and energy into being a veterinarian, this was the life I had signed up for and it seemed too late to do anything else
How could I trust myself to even know where to go from here after making such a huge mistake thinking I wanted to be a vet?
What would other people think? Everyone thought I loved being a vet.
Finally, I realized that the only thing that was really keeping me stuck were my beliefs that it was too late and an unconscious desire to punish myself for making the “wrong” decision.
The 3 Life Boost C’s - compassion, curiosity, and connection - saved me from spending the rest of my life on the exhausting hamster wheel of despair and opened the door to the cage I had unknowingly created.
Compassion - Instead of blaming and punishing myself for making such a huge “mistake”, I started to have compassion for myself. I didn’t deserve to stay stuck in a life that was making me miserable.
Curiosity - Instead of judging myself and my circumstances, I started to get curious:
What went wrong when I tried SO hard to follow all the rules that lead to health and success?
Connection - That curiosity helped me to slowly start putting the puzzle pieces together to understand why things hadn’t worked and to reconnect with all of me: body, mind, heart - to find a path forward that was in alignment with my values and what I had wanted and needed all along.
Embracing those 3 C’s led me down a path that I never planned for but it’s exactly where I belong. Giving myself the option to pursue other passions and possibilities and to explore why things had gone wrong without judgment allowed me to recover from burnout without ever leaving vet med.
Instead of my identity being the high achieving, people-pleasing, quiet, nice veterinarian, I got to discover what was underneath all of that - the real Amelia. That’s a life-long, liberating journey and one that I now support my clients with, too.
I’m now an integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, consultant, podcaster, and veterinarian passionate about speaking out about the root causes that are making so many of us unhealthy and unhappy and providing resources and programs.
What I've Learned:
The rules that we're taught lead to health and success don't.
They seem like they do, because they lead to moments of feeling healthy and successful, but they’re not sustainable. They create a carrot-on-the-stick situation where what you want is always just out of reach.
Why? Because of a devastating message that diet and hustle culture have programmed into us.
We’ve been taught that our bodies are an inconvenience or the enemy that we need to ignore or control.
In reality, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Your body’s one mission is to keep you safe and to take care of you. It is the only thing in this world with that sole intention. And it is constantly giving you really valuable feedback about what’s working and what isn’t in your life.
I like to think of it as a really devoted dog. Your body/unconscious mind want what’s best for you, but it does have basic needs in order to do that.
If you ignore the messages from your body because you think you or someone else knows better, that’s when things start to feel out of alignment, draining, and unsustainable.
Your unconscious mind and body will always win. It’s the part of you that knows more and it’s determined to take care of you - whether you like it or not.
I’m a veterinarian who also helps humans because I’ve seen and experienced first hand how these messages are negatively impacting my profession and our ability - as veterinary professionals and pet parents - to work together and provide the best care we can to the animals who trust us.
I learned the hard way what doesn’t work, so I could learn what does. And man, does it feel like a breath of fresh air when you start tuning into what your body, mind, and heart need and unlearning all of the rules and messages that were never going lead to real health and success.
The root causes of burnout in vet med are the same issues that are creating a society where the norm is to be unhealthy and unhappy:
- We’ve normalized (and even select and reward for) the warning signs that we’re living in survival mode (like constant busyness, impossibly high standards, and, self-sacrificing) which isn’t sustainable
- In an effort to be "professional" we compartmentalize stress and emotions and then numb them with comfort food, alcohol, pills, and screens instead of being taught how to feel and process them and increase self-awareness.
- We treat physical and mental health like they’re separate - they’re not. How can you possibly solve a puzzle if you’re only looking at one of the pieces?
- We self-sacrifice basic necessities (like bathroom breaks, pausing for a nourishing lunch, fresh air, water, movement, and fresh air) when we're "too busy" or unless we've “earned” it instead of treating them like a critical foundation for our bodies and brains to function
My programs look at everything - physical, mental, and emotional health, life in and outside of work - because there is no other way.
Everything is connected and if you don’t look at all the puzzle pieces, you can’t see how they all fit together and which ones don’t belong.
As a veterinarian, I love science and understanding the WHY behind our bodies, brains, actions, and feelings, but I’ve also learned that it needs to be balanced with getting out of our heads and reconnecting with your body and heart.
That’s the journey I take you on in my coaching programs so that you can unlearn the rules and messages that were never going to lead you to what you truly want in order to reconnect with what you truly need to enjoy the life you have now - even when life throws you curveballs.
When I experienced burnout, I felt alone and ashamed. I also felt gaslit by the doctors who made me feel like my physical symptoms were all in my head. I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way. If any of my story and approach resonates with you - let’s connect!
Send me an email or message on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. I’d love to get to know you and to hear your story. And if you want to embrace curiosity, we can chat about which podcast episode, resource, or program will help to lift a weight off your shoulders.
My Experience + Certifications
I've spent the past two decades continuing to expand my understanding of how the body and mind work and learning how to problem-solve in a holistic way. When you work with me, you get all this knowledge boiled down into one simple step at at time.
Wheaton College - BA in biology (2009)
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (2014) - VMD
VBMA - Business certificate
Curacore - Veterinary Medical Acupuncture Certification (2014)
Small animal veterinarian - 10 years of experience in general practice, urgent care, and relief
Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) - Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (2000)
Ethical Coaching Collective and International Association of Counselors and Therapists - integrative change worker and life coach certification
Center for Integrative Hypnosis - Integrative hypnotist certification
PQ program for coaches
Fear Free Certification
Senior Dog Veterinary Certification - Level 1, Level 2 in progress
Additional courses and continuing education on gut health, unshaming, trauma, effective communication, change management, practice management, and more
Endless books, podcasts, and research studies - every day I learn something new and I get to bring that into my coaching and programs
These are some of the rabbit holes I’ve gone down that have influenced my coaching style and programs:
Self directed neuroplasticity (the ability to change and rewire your brain)
Therapeutic memory reconsolidation
Hypnosis and coaching the unconscious mind
Unshaming
Self-compassion
Burnout
Trauma and the polyvagal theory
Gut health
Blood sugar regulation
Nutrition
Functional medicine