Introduction

My name is Emily Mire, and I am in the Health Studies with a concentration in higher education PhD program at Texas Woman's University. I am a lover of higher education and learning. I have my Masters of Public Health and will graduate in December with my Masters of Education in Counseling from Texas Christian University. My husband and I have made our home in Fort Worth, TX with our sweet puppy named Franklin. We both work in Student Affairs at different institutions here locally, and we both come from health education backgrounds.

For me, my passion behind complementary and alternative medicine is a personal one. Three years ago, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. It was time to do something different, so I began to explore complementary and alternative medicine. What I found was that there are incredible resources out there, but it can be so hard to know how to navigate this realm of health. As a result...you have this blog!

I don't approach this subject from a mindset of having to pick one or the other in terms of traditional or alternative forms of medicine. More importantly, my passion empowering individuals to decide what is best for them.

Things I had never considered until I began this journey myself:

• How do I talk to my traditional medicine providers about integrating complementary and alternative forms of treatment?
• How do I find providers?
• How do I know which information I can trust?

I was overwhelmed. As I began to figure out how I was going to define health for myself, I realized that I wanted help others walk through this journey as well. For me, complementary and alternative medicine was a game changer. It provided new opportunities and a new sense of hope.

My counseling background has taught me that each individual has innate strengths inside themselves to build solutions and conquer mountains. Dr. Andrew Weil states that "Treatment originates outside you; healing comes from within." It's a beautiful truth. My hope is that this blog will empower others to search unceasingly for the answers that work for you. All in the pursuit of health.