In 1991 a backcountry climbing trip into the Wind River Range in Wyoming led me to try acupuncture for the first time. Still mostly a city girl, I had moved to Denver to work as an Occupational Therapist and was quickly learning my way around the mountains. But this particular trip kicked my …….. but good. And when I finally limped out after 3 days I found my way to a couple of acupuncturists who became my introduction to a new way of looking at the body and health.  I quickly discovered that this medicine resonated deeply with me.  And worked. In a month my chronic migraines and severe PMS were mostly gone and over the next year we worked to balance out the rest of me. I loved the basic holistic philosophy of Occupational Therapy but had been frustrated working within the mainstream western model. I did not know very much about “alternative medicine” but knew that I needed to be working with people differently. It didn't take much to nudge me towards acupuncture as a calling and by the fall of 1992 I had enrolled in school.

I graduated from the Colorado School of Traditional Medicine in 1996 and after taking a year off to travel around the world with my husband I began to practice. And study. And learn. And question. And practice some more. The last 20 odd years have been spent delving into, studying, and practicing  Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Nutritional Therapy, Eating Psychology and Functional Medicine. I move between my left brain - fascinated by the theory of Chinese Medicine and the technicality of Functional Medicine, and my right brain - using my intuition and palpation skills to see beyond the numbers and facts to the essence of what is happening for someone right at that moment in time, on the table.

Over the years I have been drawn to different areas of study.  I discovered the Weston A Price Foundation about 15 years ago and began to learn more about the importance of whole, properly prepared and nutrient dense food. From that base I began to look for a practical and body-based approach to nutrition and became a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. Knowing what might help someone in terms of diet and having them make those changes quickly became frustrating as I realized that there was more to what we eat than just lists of do’s and don'ts.  Marc David’s Eating Psychology Coaching program filled that void and helped me to really understand the emotional and spiritual aspects of who we are as eaters and how and why we eat. Along the way I have also studied Functional Medicine and incorporate that into my practice. And of course I have continued to study Traditional East Asian Medicine - increasing my skill set in the areas of Sports Medicine Acupuncture, Fertility, Women’s Health, Autoimmune Disorders, Pediatrics, and Japanese Acupuncture. Most recently I have been studying and incorporating Sa'am - a Korean system that is based on Five Element acupuncture and is elegant and profound. Since 2016 I have been immersing myself in the world of Engaging Vitality - as created by Dan Bensky and Charles Chace. This has brought me back full circle to the energetics of what we do as acupuncturists. “Listening” to the body and what it needs using osteopathic palpation techniques, and carefully placing needles to help the physical and energetic body come into balance.

Oh, and did I mention I love what I do?