A little about me and why I am here for you…
So glad you found me.
i am alicia dunable.
About me
Hi there! I'm so glad you're here … and I mean that in the most genuine way. The fact that you're reading this means you're already doing something important: taking yourself seriously. That's not a small thing.
My name is Alicia, and I built Our Essential Wellness because I've lived the journey you might be starting. I know what it's like to feel like something is missing, to do all the "right" things and still not feel well, or to watch your child struggle and feel helpless about what to do next. I've been there. That's exactly why I do this work.
My background
I started my career in mental health. With a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and over a decade working in a short-term psychiatric hospital and my own private practice, I helped teens, adults, and families navigate addiction, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and more. I became very good at helping people uncover what was holding them back. But the longer I worked in that world, the more I noticed something: we were rarely talking about food. And the food being served in the hospital certainly wasn't helping anyone heal.
I also spent many years as a patient coordinator in functional medicine clinics, which is where everything clicked. I saw firsthand how deeply nutrition, gut health, and lifestyle choices affect mood, energy, behavior, and overall wellbeing. I became obsessed with doing this work and helping others.
My turning point
In 2008, life caught up with me. I was overstressed, under-nourished, and running on empty. My first panic attack hit, followed by diagnoses of an anxiety disorder and hypothyroidism. It was a breakdown and looking back, a breakthrough. I had to change everything.
What I wish I'd known then was how much nutrition could have supported my recovery. I found my way through it eventually, but the journey led me down a path of researching holistic health, reading everything I could, and slowly building the foundation for what I now teach my clients every day.
My family & and my "why"
Beyond my own health journey, my biggest motivation has always been my family and in particular, our son.
From an early age, he struggled. Mood swings and behavioral outbursts that seemed to come out of nowhere. Emotional meltdowns that left all of us exhausted and heartbroken. Attention and focus challenges that made school harder than it needed to be. Anxiety and sensory sensitivities that made everyday situations feel overwhelming for him. Doctors were quick to suggest medication, and I understood why because on paper, it made sense. But something in me said NO. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I trusted my gut that there was another way.
That instinct sent me down a long, sometimes lonely road of research. I read everything I could get my hands on. I asked questions that most conventional doctors didn't have time to answer. I leaned hard into functional medicine, looking for root causes instead of symptom management. What was driving his mood? Was there something happening in his gut? Were there nutritional deficiencies at play? Environmental triggers? Genetic components? I wasn't willing to put a bandage on something when I believed we could actually get to the bottom of it.
Slowly, we started changing our diet. It wasn't overnight, and it wasn't perfect because we're a real family, not a wellness magazine. But little by little, we cleaned things up, added targeted supplements, and worked with practitioners who looked at the whole picture. And something shifted. His mood began to regulate. His behavior at home and school changed in ways that felt almost impossible to believe at first. He started thriving in ways I had genuinely wondered if we'd ever see. We still have days, and the journey continues to unfold, but where we are now compared to where we were? Night and day.
I think about what his life might look like if we had just filled that first prescription and called it done. I don't say that to judge anyone who has chosen medication. I know how hard those decisions are, and every child is different. I say it because I know what we found on the other side of that choice for our family, and it changed everything. He would be in a much more difficult, complicated place. And honestly, so would I.
That experience is woven into everything I do with clients. When a mom comes to me at her wit's end, wondering why her child can't hold it together, I'm not just a practitioner reading lab results. I'm a mother who has sat exactly where she's sitting. I know how it feels to fight for your child when the path forward isn't clear. And I know what's possible when you commit to finding the root cause and giving the body what it actually needs.
What I'm here to do for you
Today I'm Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition and a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and I bring every chapter of my story into the work I do with clients. Whether you're trying to improve your child's mood, sleep, and behavior, or you're finally ready to prioritize your own health, I'm here to help you figure out what's really going on and build a plan that actually fits your life.
No guilt. No restriction. No one-size-fits-all approach. Just real, personalized support … because your wellness truly is essential. Let's do this together.
My Approach
Here's what I know to be true: there is no single "right" way to be healthy. The approach that transformed my health and my son's life looks different from what might work for you and that's not a flaw in the system. That is the system.
I practice what's called a bio-individual approach, which simply means that I treat you as the unique person you are. Your body has its own history, its own needs, and its own blueprint for thriving. My job is to help you figure out what that looks like, not hand you a generic meal plan and send you on your way.
Food is absolutely at the center of what I do, because I believe deeply that food is medicine. But I also know that food alone doesn't tell the whole story. What nourishes us goes well beyond what's on our plate.
It includes the people around us. Community: real, supportive, like-minded people that feed our hearts and souls in ways that no supplement can replicate. We'll look at the relationships and support systems in your life and make sure you have what you need to feel held, not isolated, on this journey.
It includes how we move. You don't need to train for a marathon or survive a CrossFit class to have a healthy, well-functioning body. Your child doesn’t need to be the next soccer star or prima ballerina. We all just need to move in ways that feel good for our own bodies, consistently and joyfully. We'll find what that looks like.
And it includes the quiet habits that tend to get skipped first when life gets busy: journaling, meditation, time in nature, small rituals that ground you and remind you who you are. These aren't luxuries. They're part of the foundation.
When we work together, we address all of it. Because real, lasting wellness isn't built on willpower or perfection. It's built on understanding yourself, finding what genuinely works for your life, and creating a foundation strong enough to actually hold you.
That's what Essential Wellness is all about.
Dream it
You are here which means you have imagined something different in your life. You already know how it has been and you know you want something more. You have come to the right place. Hold on to your dream, remember how and why you got here, and let time and relationship take course.
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”
-M.K. Gandhi
CREATE it
Putting in the time, money, and effort into yourself is an investment, not an expense or a sacrifice. When you choose to focus on your wellness, you are clearing the path to live a life with intention, clarity, purpose, hope, and love. Taking care of yourself is a beautiful way of showing love to you and others. Recovery and change is not linear, so expect the bumps and curves in the journey. As long as you stay on the path, you will see and feel the rewards and goodness you have been dreaming of.
“How does one become a butterfly?…You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
-Trina Paulus
