Meet the Clinical Team: Tanya

What sets the Kaia Health Care Team apart?

At Kaia, we are passionate about helping those suffering from back, joint, and chronic pain find relief, and improve their quality of life. Kaia users have access to anytime, anywhere digital therapy – which includes physical exercises, guided meditations, and educational content – as well as 1:1 support from a Kaia Health Coach or Physical Therapist. Each member of the Kaia Care Team brings to the table an extensive background and unique expertise to ensure that each and every user receives the personalized support and guidance they need to make progress toward their pain relief goals.

Meet Tanya

Tanya has been a healthcare professional for 21 years, and is passionate about empowering people with chronic conditions to improve their quality of life. Read on to get to know her and hear her secrets for helping people find success with Kaia.

Did you always know you wanted to be in healthcare?

In some ways, yes. My entire life I was always drawn to caring for people, but I didn’t put it all together until a friend in college asked me why I wasn’t studying nursing. It was an “aha” moment for me and I never looked back.

Why did you decide to become a health coach?

After working in the hospital setting as a registered nurse for many years, I took time off to be home with my two boys while they were young. Around the time I decided to return to work, I discovered health coaching.

I felt so drawn to this new (to me) way of having a positive impact on the health of others. I was so excited and passionate about the opportunity to foster the  skills, tools, and confidence needed to help people achieve sustainable change. Being able to support health and wellness in such an individualized and impactful way felt like a perfect progression and fit for me.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is forming relationships where I am given the opportunity to facilitate and witness individual empowerment and self-discovery, with the realization that they now have the answers.

I love that by working in digital therapeutics, I can reach so many people when and where they are most comfortable, which makes the connection feel that much more authentic, organic, and fruitful.

What is the most common misconception about pain management?

Pain management is about more than just the physical pain. The mind-body connection plays a significant role as well.

It is so important to me to have discussions about all aspects of pain, in addition to the physical symptoms. Factors like stress, support systems and relationships, sleep quality, and how we nourish our bodies and minds all play a major role in our ability to find relief  – recognizing how interrelated they all are is important to our ability to heal holistically.

Outside of work, what do you like to do for fun?

Watching my older son play hockey and my younger son play music or honestly doing any activity with them! I also love anything that involves the ocean and have a hobby of designing and making jewelry, which I don’t do often enough.

Do you have any pets?

Yes! We have a two year old snowshoe cat named Marlo!

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

I would have to say that answer changes frequently, but right now I’m going to say Amsterdam because my older son will be studying there for a month and we plan to hijack the end of his trip and join him.

About Tanya, Health Coach Manager, Kaia Health

Tanya is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) trained in integrative coaching at Duke Integrative Medicine. She is passionate about providing kind, empathetic, and motivating coaching in a nonthreatening environment in order to empower, facilitate growth and unleash potential. She started her career as an RN, BSN, at California Pacific Medical Center, where she served in a leadership role in their pre-liver transplant transitional ICU unit. She then moved east to work in the Transplant ICU/surgical unit at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

Throughout her digital coaching career, Tanya has focused on strength-based work, encouraging her participants to be proactive and accountable for their own health. She finds those breakthrough moments when participants realize they possess the ability to sustain healthy lifestyle behaviors extremely rewarding. She believes active listening, authentic curiosity, and providing individualized empathetic guidance and support is the key to successful coaching.

To learn more about the Kaia pain management program, and 1: 1 digital health coaching, visit www.kaiahealth.com