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Meet Lisa & Keith
Keith and Lisa bring together years of experience working with people in clinical settings, and a passion for seeing people live the high-quality lives they were intended to live. They chose the name “Intended for Health” because of their belief that people are intended to live with energy, purpose, and deep connection. This idea of health reaches far beyond the absence of disease; their goal is to help each client acheive their personal vision of themselves at their very best.
Over the last few decades, Lisa has watched close family members suffer from Alzheimer’s, and has invested hours of professional training and research to try to help others avoid this devastating illness. Now as a nurse practitioner with advanced training in functional medicine, she has a focus on understanding the root causes of chronic disease. Her love for nutrition and seeing “food as medicine” is just one of the many ways she believes lifestyle change can have a dramatic impact on health. Keith spent many years as a marriage and family therapist, and brings his understanding of people and an enthusiasm for helping them grow and thrive. His training as an integrative health coach has added to his skill set, helping people make and sustain lasting behavior changes.
Lisa
Certified Nurse Practitioner
Keith
Certified Integrative Health Coach
Meet Lisa
Anyone who knows Lisa, knows she loves to cook! Her source of culinary inspiration comes from her mom, who was herself a great hostess and cook. She can often be found scrolling through new recipe ideas, and fortunately her kids and Keith are willing subjects to her latest inspirations!
Lisa attended Calvin University for her undergraduate degree, and worked in hospitals in Youngstown, Ohio, as well as Denver, Colorado. After moving to Minnesota in 2003 and working in various outpatient settings, Lisa decided it was time to take a next step. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with her Master’s in Nursing in 2010, and worked for Allina and Presbyterian Homes and Services, caring for elders. Her experience providing palliative care to many with dementia, as well as experiencing her own mother’s delcine, prompted Lisa to seek further education that focused on creating health, as opposed to treating disease. This also led her to the Institute for Functional Medicine, and eventually to the work of Dr Dale Bredesen and Dr Terry Wahls- both of whom are sources of inspiration in Lisa’s work. She is excited to bring her passion for healthy food and healthy practices to people who, like herself, have risk for developing dementia.
Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, Calvin University
Master’s of Science in Nursing, University of Minnesota
Continuing education, Institute for Functional Medicine
Bredesen Protocol and Wahl’s Protocol Certified Practitioner
Meet Keith
Keith is an outdoorsman who developed a love for trout streams and flyfishing while living in Colorado for several years. Since living in Minnesota, he has also made bow hunting a favorite pastime and way to spend time in nature. An admitted “still wanna be” athlete, Keith has found pickleball to be a great competition fix, and a fun way to get exercise and spend time with friends. On his contemplative side, he welcomes quieter moments for reflection, reading, and prayer– practices that keep him grounded and connected to his faith roots.
Keith obtained a Master’s degree in counseling in 1997, and spent the next 20 years working with individuals, couples, and families in residential and clinical settings. His excitement for helping people grow, along with his own health journey, led him to the field of integrative health coaching. This holistic model of health has guided him in assisting people across the entire spectrum of physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
B.A. Philosophy, Calvin University
M.A. Counseling, Denver Seminary
Certified Integrative Health Coach, Duke University
Get in Touch
We’d love to meet with you for a free 15 minute consultation!
Our Story
We both grew up in tight-knit families with lots of extended family gatherings throughout the year. We grew especially close to our dear grandparents, and were very saddened to watch several of them develop Alzheimer’s. We saw vibrant, energetic people slowly fade into just a shell of themselves, and there was nothing that we could do. Like everyone else, we were told that this illness was the unfortunate product of genetics and bad luck.
When Lisa’s mom began showing symptoms in her early 60’s, the weight of this illness became even more real. It was a slow decline, and became more and more painful to observe and experience as we became care-givers. We agonized with her as she grew anxious, realizing that she was forgetting things, and losing a significant piece of herself. We also began to better understand the impact on care-givers, as we were challenged with new physical, mental, and emotional demands, all while grieving significant losses of our own.
As you can imagine, we took great interest in the new research of Dr. Bredesen in California, and the subsequent studies that have added to his very hopeful conclusions. And as we cross paths with people who share similar stories to ours– people who are desperately looking for answers– we are excited to have something to offer. As regular people on our own health journey, we have begun to employ many of the strategies and interventions recommended. It’s not always an easy path, but it’s a good one, and we hope you will join us so we can walk together.