Meet Mari, Health Coach at Neura Health

At Neura Health, we offer coaching for all our patients. This helps everyone on their journey with neurological care. We’re happy to introduce Mari King! Mari is a certified health and wellness coach with a Bachelor of Science in dietetics. Mari is here to help empower you to have more control over your own health and well-being.

Video Transcript:

Hi, I'm Mari, and I'm a health coach here at Neura Health.

What is your clinical and medical background?

My background clinically is really varied. I started in business, I ended up in the beauty and wellness industry, and then as a health coach, I graduated from a nutritional health coach program. And I am actually certified by three different boards: NBC-HWC, I'm certified by the International Association of Health Coaches, and by the Cancer Journey Coaches of America.

What first brought you to coaching?

I got into health coaching because I really wanted to work with people "beyond the mirror," and I've been doing that for over 10 years now.

What brought you to Neura Health?

I love working with chronic conditions of any kind, which is why I was attracted to Neura Health. I love helping patients who have unseen pain and have to live with that in their daily lives. I also love to work with caregivers. They lose their identity with caregiving a lot, so coaching can really help bring them back and benefit everyone—even the people they're caring for.

What do you think patients need the most?

Patients really need a safe space to be themselves and to be authentic. I hope to create that with all of my patients. You really have to understand their experience of life from their perception. Listening very carefully and remaining present with them is number one for me. I want to make sure they feel seen, heard, and that they feel like they have dignity.

What is your POV on patient-first care?

Well, you can't have a collaboration with a patient without it. And in any kind of care, it needs to be a collaboration between the two. So when you put the patient first, and you really work to understand what they're living, it opens up a whole world of trust, connection, and this bond in a relationship where healing can really take place. Because they have to be involved in their own story.

Do you have a chronic condition?

I have fibromyalgia and I also have psoriasis, which is going into RA (rheumatoid arthritis). I'm of the age—I'm Gen X—where those questions weren't always answered when I went to the doctor coming up, which is why I really appreciate Neura Health and their approach to patient care. I don't know if I know anyone who doesn't have a chronic condition, to be honest with you. It's widespread now, but we don't talk about it a lot, so it really helps to share that with my patients so that they feel at ease.

How do you manage?

What keeps me going is the fact that I deserve to live a good life, and I really want to use my experiences to give back to others. So, being able to coach really gets me out of bed every day. I handle it more by listening to my body. You know, there are days when you need to rest, and you need to know mentally that it's okay to rest. And there are days when, you know, the sky's the limit. So, just really being in tune, listening to my gut, and paying attention to what actions I have has helped me a lot.

Who do you think is a good fit for coaching?

Coaching is for everyone; I firmly believe everyone should have a coach. Especially Neura's approach—people need someone who is there for them. I feel like a lot of times when you have a chronic condition or you have unseen pain, your diagnosis sort of gets tattooed on your forehead, and you start going through life like that, and you lose your sense of identity. So, everyone deserves to have a care coach to help ground that identity, keep it rooted, and help you find ways that you can still live life as yourself.

What advocacy groups do you feel passionately about?

I support the National Medical Advocacy Agency. They work to make sure everyone has access to quality, affordable care. I also support the LGBTQ Medical Alliance for the exact same reason, but for a different subset of our population. Additionally, I support human rights organizations because they work really hard to educate often-marginalized populations.

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To book a coaching session with Mari, activate your Neura membership trial today!

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