Overcoming Health Trauma with a Health Coach with Bethany
Overcoming Health Trauma with a Health Coach with Bethany
We are currently in the middle of quarantine survival mode in the US, and I asked the Martinis and Your Money Facebook group if I should air previously recorded episodes that were recorded before the pandemic arose, air replays, or air episodes of just me talking. The consensus was to change the topic off COVID-19 and listen to something else, but maybe also get an update from me, so that’s what I’m going to do.
Joining me today is Bethany, Certified Health Coach and founder of the brand The Healthy B, to share her story about how a near death experience led her to find not only the healing powers she had within herself but a whole new career path. Bethany’s story is just the inspiration I think we all need in a time like this.
This episode was recorded pre-COVID-19 times.
What are we drinking?
Bethany - Green Juice (celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger, spinach)
Shannon - Black Cherry Schweppes
Podcast Notes
Bethany has been a Financial Gym client for almost a year. She discovered The Gym through social media, and it was at the same time that she was starting her own company.
She had just gone through a health trauma and she was starting all over. She wanted to make sure she made smart choices and set herself up for success.
Bethany is married, but wanted some guidance, because she was starting a business.
Bethany was talking to others who were doing similar things, which was great for bouncing ideas, but there is a point where you need to invest in yourself.
Before starting a business, Bethany experienced serious physical trauma.
Bethany is originally from Michigan, but always wanted to move to New York City. After college, she got a job working with a company in Human Resources. It wasn’t her passion, and her goal was to save as much money as possible so she could move to New York.
She worked for three years and saved enough money to move and then she got a job in NYC. Prior to this, Bethany was very health and never had any health conditions.
A year after moving to the city, she started having very bizarre symptoms, like her legs would go numb when she was working out, she had extreme fatigue, and she constantly felt body aches.
Bethany went to the doctor and the tests came back fine. She went to a specialist and her doctor diagnosed her with Lyme Disease. A lot of people on the east coast suffer from this.
Bethany didn’t believe this diagnosis was correct, so she went to a neurologist, a hematologist, and about eight or nine other specialists in a year. She was having good days and bad days throughout this process and nobody could figure out what was going on.
She was told that she must have anxiety and she was bringing this upon herself. She continued searching and about a year later, a doctor discovered that Bethany had a malformation of blood vessels in her brain, and it had slowly been bleeding on and off.
This condition is call cavernoma. You are typically born with them, but some people have a gene that create multiple cavernomas in their body. Bethany just had one. It had been bleeding on and off, which is why she had the symptoms, but not bad enough for her to have a hemorrhage.
Her doctor sent her to a neurosurgeon to have a discussion about what was going on, what could happen, and what to do from there. The neurosurgeon said it is very rare for them to hemorrhage and hopefully it will stop bleeding and she will go back to feeling good again.
The surgeon did not think surgery was necessary at that time. Bethany felt relieved to finally have an answer. Two weeks later, she had a massive headache. She went to the ER and they sent her home.
She went to an imaging center a couple days later and when they did a CT scan they found that her brain was hemorrhaging. Bethany had emergency brain surgery the next day where the doctor took out the cavernoma and repaired the blood vessels.
Bethany was 27 years old when she had surgery. Afterward, the surgeon said to do nothing for three months. She could walk, but she couldn’t work, exercise, or drive.
Bethany was living in NYC at that time, living with a roommate, and had just started dating her now husband, Clark. She wasn’t working and after she had surgery her parents stayed with her for a month.
Her surgeon said she could move home to Michigan as long as she had a doctor there, but she wasn’t allowed to fly.
Her boyfriend quit his job in NYC, found a new job, and moved to Michigan with her. He was originally from Michigan, but he had been living in NYC for six years.
Bethany and her boyfriend moved in with her parents for six months. Two weeks after moving to Michigan, she had a breakdown, because of all of the changes. Recovery was emotionally and physically difficult on multiple levels.
Bethany worked in a corporate job and had good insurance. For the surgery, she had to pay up to her deductible, which was about $5,000. For the year before, it cost about $20,000, because some of the doctors weren’t covered.
Her surgery cost her insurance $285,000. After the surgery, she couldn’t work and she didn’t qualify for disability.
A couple months after surgery, Bethany met with a health coach who opened her up to healing modalities she didn’t know about. She started doing a lot of energy healing, she changed her diet, and she started meditating and changing her overall mindset. Bethany would do three or four things every morning to make her feel good.
After nine months, Bethany was finally able to drive and she started looking for a job. She wanted to contribute and feel normal with a routine and a purpose.
Bethany went to work for a company in Detroit in HR. A year later, she asked herself what she was doing. She hated working in HR and felt like she had a second chance at life. Her job was eliminated shortly after, due to a merger.
Bethany went back to school to become a health coach, because her health coach helped her so much during her recovery. She wanted to help others with chronic conditions and health traumas.
Bethany helps guide her clients throughout their journey. She educates them on nutrition and lifestyle, and they talk a lot about how to heal and overcome trauma. She works a lot on retraining the subconscious and retraining so they are not carrying the old trauma to the future. She is a cheerleader for her clients.
Everything in our body is energy. When we have blocks where energy isn’t flowing to that area, it can become damaged or diseased. Energy healing focuses on opening the body up so energy is flowing through. The higher the vibration of your energy, the better you are going to feel.
If you see someone who is negative and mean, they are at a low frequency. If you see someone who is happy and grateful, they are radiating high energy. This type of healing very scientific.
Everyone can benefit from a health coach. If you are feeling any kind of struggle and you need motivation, that may be a good time to look into working with a health coach.
Instagram is how all of Bethany’s clients find her. She started sharing her journey and health tips and that is how she got all of her clients. Word of mouth is also great.
A health coach costs approximately a couple hundred dollars a month, depending who you are working with. A lot of Bethany’s clients have therapists and some have a dietician.
During the intake call, Bethany talks to the person to figure out if they are ready to do the work. If not, it is a waste of their time and her time. You cannot convince someone to make changes, they have to be ready.
Most of Bethany’s clients have had a health trauma or have a chronic condition and they are having a hard time adjusting to their new lifestyle.
Prior to brain surgery, Bethany was going out for drinks, dancing, traveling, and was able to live off minimal sleep and now she can’t drink, she needs a lot of sleep, and she has to pay attention to her diet. The sudden change was devastating and she had to get used to a new normal.
Bethany works with her clients a lot on relationships, because they change. Other people may not understand what her clients are going through and many feel judged by others in their lives.
An easy thing to do to change your energy is to journal or write down three things you are grateful for and focus on those things throughout the day. Everyone has three things.
When you find yourself saying something negative to yourself, replace it with two positive thoughts. Meditating allows you to connect with your body and breath and feel grounded.
Every cell in your body is listening to what you are telling yourself. If you are telling yourself you are healthy, your body will respond. Your mind feeds your cells and sparks a physical reaction.
Own your journey. Knowing that you are going through your situation for a reason and a purpose is difficult, but trying to find the light in it all will make it a little easier.
You have the tools within yourself and you can fix yourself. That is powerful, you just need to make the commitment. Bethany recommends her clients spend about 30 to 40 minutes a day to do these things.
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway from this episode and what is going on in the world in general is that great things can always come from dark places. Never losing sight of that will help you during these times of uncertainty.
Random Three Questions
What is your favorite quick fix when you are in a funk?
What is a show you like to binge watch?
What is a food you hated as a kid and do you hate it now?
Connect with Bethany
Website: The Healthy B
Instagram/Twitter: @thehealthy_b
If you have any topics you would like me to cover on this podcast, or If you’d like to get in the financially naked hotseat, I encourage you to email me to Shannon@fingyms.com, or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group, and let me know what you want to hear.
If you’d like to talk to my team at the Financial Gym to help you drop your money anxiety and recession proof your finances, we’re offering a number of great deals, because April is Financial Literacy Month. While you are quarantined from home, our team is more than happy to help you make your plan and not only survive these times, but thrive during them. So head over to, or send friends to, financialgym.com to get set up today.