About Gwendolyn Janelle Allbritton, MPH

I’m Gwendolyn Janelle.  This is my story. 

A medical-personal growth autobiography, if you will.

(To skip the narrative and check out a quick list of my creds, skip to the end.)

Life Purpose

I coach people in their journeys to a higher quality of life as they define it.

Starting College

Academically, my background includes an undergraduate degree in business administration, with a major in marketing and a minor in psychology. I switched to this after initially choosing a major in English coupled with pre-med, because I always knew I wanted to help people go from sick and struggling to healthy and happy.

Alas, the pre-med program was not a fit for me, so I focused my communication skills into the business career path and did a few internships with advertising agencies. That is when I realized how empty our materialistic, consuming-oriented culture felt for me. I had been planning to start my MBA as soon as I finished my BA, but I pumped the brakes to re-evaluate my goals.

Around that time, California (my childhood home) was asking the voters to pass the proposition that would ban smoking in all restaurants and bars. The advertising campaign launched by the health department spared no expense. It passed by a landslide, despite ferocious opposition from various parties. It was one of the most exciting voting seasons of my life up to that point, and I was riveted by the entire process.

That is how I discovered “social marketing,” which was all about using all the advertising industry tools to persuade people to level-up their choices and actions that impact their health — instead of persuading them to buy stuff they probably don’t actually need with money that might not be wisely spent on said stuff. I decided to focus on the international geo-politics of the tobacco industry.

Onward to Grad School!

My first few weeks in the master of public health (MPH) program at Loma Linda University were among the happiest of my life. I had found my tribe! I even took a research-volunteer year in Viet Nam. Public health was my new passion, and instead of treating one patient at a time as a physician, I could impact an entire village, city, or country with a well-planned and executed program. 

Speaking of physicians, I was totally devoted to the allopathic model. While I gave basic respect to the other branches of health care professionals like chiropractors, naturopaths, and homeopaths, I decided none of them was for me.

Starting in my teens, I began reacting to the air pollution that plagued the area where I started college. Every Autumn, I had bronchitis and took antibiotics. The issues progressed and after a few years I was taking 3-5 courses of antibiotics every year.

My health was deteriorating even though I did everything my physicians told me to do. It took me nine years to get through the four-year BA program, because I was often too sick to complete coursework and prepare for final exams. I had to drop a class and take it over if I couldn’t get an extension. 

By the time I finished my MPH (which took over four years when most people finish it in less than two), my entire life was grinding to a halt. Chronic fatigue, frequent sinus infections (treated with antibiotics, of course), and migraine headaches caused a brain fog that gave me about six inches of mental visibility as I sleep-walked through my MPH and started a second master degree program in medical ethics with plans to segue into a PhD program.

The turning point for me was when my advisor, whom I deeply respected and adored, suggested that I get tested for a learning disability because I was struggling with the difficult coursework. I was humiliated. 

Taking My Power Back:
I’m In Charge Now

Skipping past my primary care doctor who obviously wasn’t helping me, I self-referred and paid cash to a renowned surgeon who could look at my ear-nose-throat problems, and ended up having sinus surgery (after six months on the strongest out-patient antibiotics available). 

The sinus surgery cleared up the migraines and sinus infections, but I was still miserable with chronic bronchitis. A few years later, I learned that I had a 4-inch diameter uterine fibroid, also overlooked by the “finest” OB/GYN in town but duly noted by an acupuncturist. This fibroid caused severe bleeding that trapped me in the bathtub for 30 minutes at a time, watching life flow down the drain. I was anemic, which made me vulnerable to whatever bug was floating around. I had to stop to catch my breath going up the stairs to my second floor apartment and hated feeling so weak. I eventually went under the knife again and had that tumor removed.

I had two surgeries and lost two loved ones, all in about five years. 

It was a tough chapter in my life, and I was worried that more health issues requiring surgery might pop up. I was so frustrated with the MDs, but decided to connect with another specialist and try again.

What was the root cause? That’s what I wanted to know.

I self-referred once again, this time for testing with an allergy specialist (an idea that had never occurred to my primary care doc). I lit up like a Christmas tree and finally had documentation of which culprits caused me severe problems. Shots were scheduled, but again I pumped the brakes. The treatment plan required many months of weekly visits, requiring around 90 minutes each time, including the drive across town through the endless construction zones and heavy traffic — all this, with a 50-80% chance of success. 

There had to be a better way. I cancelled everything and begged God for help.

My Medical Shift 

After that, I started meeting people who pointed me to practitioners who could actually help me.

Starting in 2003, I experienced a 180-degree flip with my health beliefs when a friend referred me to a naturopath who had helped her when all the physicians at the medical center had failed.

This naturopath had an undergrad degree in fine arts, and no graduate degree. I would have never considered her for my medical issues just months earlier, but I was ready to welcome her into my life. 

What she did have was direct, personal training with several pioneer geniuses in energy / body-mind healing, and I was yet to learn that with their coaching, she worked with her father who was wheelchair bound with ALS. He was going downhill fast when she started with him. After about a year, his neurologist said it must have been a mis-diagnosis because he no longer had ALS. He went on to live a vigorous, joyful, and healthy life for some years after that.

It was her easy smile and warm confidence that put me at ease. Besides, I was ready out of sheer desperation. My friend’s success with her inspired me and I felt hopeful for the first time in years. 

She eliminated my allergy to cats in the first visit. It was my first time healing with “energy work,” and I was a new believer. She identified several issues that the MDs had completely overlooked, and suggested some supplements to take. The brain fog lifted after a few days. She gave me my life back, no exaggeration.

I would have sold my last pair of shoes for one more appointment with her, because after years of visits with physicians and therapists, she was the first one who I trusted to send me home feeling better after each session. We eliminated all my allergies listed by the specialist who had tested me, then moved on to “emotional allergies.” 

My Spiritual Shift

She guided me through clearings of resentments, anger, victim mentality, and anxiety. She helped me re-define what forgiveness meant to me because I could not bring myself to act as if those predators and abusers had not done anything wrong. I rejected the advice to “love and forgive them like Jesus does for you.” My understanding of forgiveness was not based in wisdom or self-love, and she helped me make the shifts necessary to truly forgive and reach a place of peace and gratitude.

I even learned to be grateful for the ways I learned the tough lessons, especially gaining a deeper understanding of what authentic forgiveness is all about. I chose peace and love over fear and revenge, balanced with healthy boundaries and holding people accountable — but even today I still have to remind myself that it is a choice to make every day. I still sometimes struggle with the issues that are revealed in this continuous process of peeling back the layers. Complex childhood post-traumatic stress injury (C-PTSI) takes a while to fully repair, but the effort and struggle are worth it.

The Student Becomes the Teacher,
But Keeps Studying

In 2004, I studied under a Reiki master, and that was my first certification in the energy healing world. I kept going and never looked back with a new tribe that welcomed me lovingly and patiently. We met weekly to study "A Course In Miracles," a text book written in the 1960s containing lessons and notes for teachers on the art of forgiveness, among other things. 

They introduced me to the writings and live lectures of David R. Hawkins, and we took trips together to Sedona so we could meet him. They taught me how to physically and intuitively distinguish truth versus lies, rebuilding the link between my mind and body that was severed out of necessary to survive childhood.

Paying It Forward

Now I intend to give people the shortcuts that I wish I had had many years ago. Throughout all those years continuously on various medications, dropping and repeating classes, struggling to get up every morning, my prayer was to gain wisdom and learn solutions so I could help other people who were suffering.

I’m still learning new tools, and doing deep dives into the skills and training I have acquired over the years, but I’m at a point where I can be (and have been) helpful to others who are a few steps behind me. 

I am familiar with imposter syndrome, and never run out of personal improvement goals. But I don’t let these moments block me from remembering that I have come a very long, long way and will continue this journey for as long as I am blessed with one more day on this planet.

Academic:

Bachelor of arts in business administration

Marketing major, psychology minor
California State University, San Bernardino

Master of public health 

Double emphasis: global health and health promotion/education

Loma Linda University

Master of arts (not completed)

Ethics and philosophy

La Sierra University

Certifications and
Post-Graduate Training:

Esthetician 

Reiki

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

Thought Field Therapy (TFT)

Fast Track Technique (FTT)

Merlin Trinity Healing System

Thai Massage

The One Command (Theta Subconscious Programming)

Motivational Speaker

Radio Show Host

Workshop Facilitator

Music Teacher 

Jazz Singer