About Barbara McNeely

I’m Barbara McNeely, holistic health coach and creator of Self Powered Healing. I help frustrated women get to the root of their health issues, when their doctors cannot.

I’ve been solving health issues since I was 16. On the first day of my junior year of high school,  I began experiencing severe migraines. I was able to determine the trigger and avoid it, saving myself years of misery chasing neurologists. Thirty years later, I was back chasing neurologists until I once again determined my additional migraine triggers.

Through the years, I resolved many of my own health issues. Issues that perplexed and frustrated doctors. Oh the stories I have. Of doctors I fired and doctors I should have fired and even one doctor who fired me!

I’m a health coach, a scientist and a detective rolled into one.

I have loved science since Mrs Feigenbaum’s seventh grade science class.  In college, I majored in biology, concentrating primarily on microbiology – bacteria and parasites and viruses, Oh My! 

I worked in medical research for several years, before pursuing a career building computer systems. The love of science never left me, though. I was still solving health issues for myself. Plus, friends and family were coming to me with their health issues. And quite often I would help them resolve them.

Eventually, I left the corporate world.

It seemed natural to study to become a health coach. I’m a life-long learner. My curiosity lead me to continue studying with a number of fabulous health coaches; learning more about the various systems of the human body. As well as studying various traditional approaches to health and healing, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine. I believe that there is value in those traditions and their healing modalities that worked for thousands of years.

Humans are complex creatures. Nothing in the body happens in isolation. That’s exactly what it means to take a holistic approach. Each part of the body is impacted by all the other body parts and the thousands of chemical reactions that happen every minute of every hour of every day. 

We’re also impacted by what is going on in our world, what we are exposed to and even events throughout our life.

That’s why I believe in taking a big picture approach: Looking at all the possibilities, knowing that there isn’t just one thing that is causing a problem.

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. — Albert Einstein

I don’t even pretend to be in the same class as Albert Einstein. I am, however, passionately curious. I love to understand how things work, how they are put together, what makes them run.

Years ago I visited Disney World and Epcot Center. I was fascinated with everything about Epcot: How they put the rides together, how things worked. I would have loved a behind-the-scenes tour.

The same is true with health issues and how the body works. Whether it’s understanding the process of digestion or the cascade of hormones that relate to thyroid function; I love to get into those details.

That’s why I majored in Biology/Microbiology. It’s also why I became a health coach and continue learning today.

Here’s where the detective comes in:

Too often, doctors stop with the first answer they find. One test shows a particular condition. So they stop there. I call that the ’15-minute diagnosis’ because that’s all the time they’re allotted by the system. 

Along with the detective work, I also notice patterns and connections that can be important. Sprinkle it with a bit of intuition, and you come up with the right answers, the root causes. Not just the low-hanging fruit that doctors are famous for. 

Believe me, I have some stories to tell. Like last year when I was told that my ankle issue was arthritis. That was a 15-minute diagnosis based solely on an x-ray.  While there were arthritic changes in my ankle, it turned out the primary issue was a much bigger issue: a tear in a major tendon. It took nearly a year to convince the doctors to look more deeply at my ankle pain. A year in which there was likely more damage happening.

That’s why you cannot stop with just the first “problem” that you find. I have another story that I will tell, over time. It’s a story of what, at first, was diagnosed as a thyroid issue. The real answer was much deeper and much more complex.

Are you ready to get to the root of your health issues? Let’s have a chat. No commitment, no obligation, just 15 minutes to talk about how we can work together.

Click on the BOOK NOW button below to schedule a time. (Need a different time? Contact me here.)

Background

If you’re someone who needs to see my experience and credentials, I’ve listed them all here:

• Bachelor of Science in Biology, with a Concentration in Microbiology. UTSA
• Medical Research, UTHSC-SA & Baylor College of Medicine
• Certified Health Coach – IIN
• Full Body Systems Graduate 2013 – Holistic Nutrition Lab
• New Healers Master Coaching Program – Andrea Beaman
• Nourishing Thyroid Health Program – Andrea Beaman
• Holistic Health Cooking Certification – Andrea Beaman

As a health coach, I support my clients in all aspects of their well-being in order to help them live a full, happy and balanced life. Setting goals in accordance with their health concerns: including educating and supporting them about food choices and improved nutrition, exercise, stress and time management, relationships, career, etc. While I do not prescribe supplements, I do offer information and resources for clients to consider.

And now for some weasel words to keep the lawyers at bay:

I’m not a doctor. I don’t play one on TV. I do have a background in Biology, and a lifelong devotion to learning. And I’m pretty good at figuring things out — especially as it relates to health issues. Should you have any health issues, I’m happy to work with you to help you get a better understanding of what’s going on.

Anything you read is from my own experiences and what has worked for me. It isn’t intended to be advice. If what you read makes sense, I encourage you to do your own research, talk to your doctor and reach your own conclusions.