I was raised in Dayton and Lima, Ohio by my two wonderful parents: Dad is an ER physician and Mom is an ER nurse. I moved to Santa Barbara in 1990 when I was 20 years old after attending college at Xavier University in Cincinnati. I started doing massage professionally in Santa Barbara in 1992 after graduating from the Body Therapy Institute. By 1998, I was facing debilitating knee pain that had been getting progressively worse over a period of almost three years. I had a difficult time sitting through movies and going for long car rides and would often have to stand up and stretch my legs in order to be comfortable. I was at a crossroads in my massage practice and wondered where I wanted to go from there - would I become an osteopathic physician or naturopathic physician? I wasn't sure which direction I should go. So, a friend convinced me to try acupuncture and see if it might work for my knee pain.
I chose to go to the SBCOM clinic and was treated by students there who were supervised by licensed acupuncturists. I thought that maybe acupuncture might help me sleep better or perhaps might help me with PMS. I was certainly convinced that as bad as my knee pain was, there would be no relief in that realm. However, I was willing to just go and see what it was like as I'd heard so many great things about it from friends and clients.
The students asked me many interesting questions about everything concerning my mind, body and spirit (holistic body). I told the students that I was very needle phobic and they showed me the needles. I marveled at the hairlike-filaments and said, "Wow...those look so inoccuous." The insertion was virtually painless!! I couldn't believe it.
After the treatment, I noticed that I felt very relaxed and euphoric (I found out later that this is normal) and paid my bill and walked down the stairs towards the parking lot. I stopped immediately when I noticed that my knees weren't hurting anymore!! I walked back up the stairs to make sure and then I walked back down again. I ran up and ran back down again!! I had NO PAIN whatsoever. I was totally shocked and amazed. I told myself at that very moment, "If I still don't have pain in two weeks I'm going to come back to this school, get a degree and become an acupuncturist!!!" I was sure it wouldn't work and I told myself that if it worked for ME, it could work for anyone.
I signed up for the Fall term of '07 two weeks later and was treated twice in the next year and a half for knee pain. Since then, I have never had a problem. I also want to stress that this is not the typical reaction, and we usually tell folks that with painful complaints, "it could take seven to eight treatments before you feel a substantial difference." In my experience, I notice that by the third or fourth treatment, my clients will typically observe a noticable difference in the quality and quantity of their pain.
After attending SBCOM for a year and a quarter, I moved up to Oregon to finish my education at The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, which was at the time, the best school in the country (out of 66 accredited acupuncture colleges in the US). I moved back down to Santa Barbara from Oregon (after traveling for a year) and chose to start my acupuncture and massage therapy practice locally. I am absolutely thrilled with the quality of education I've received and strongly feel that every cent of my student loans are money well spent. I encourage my clients to email me with questions regarding anything related to their health and well-being. This serves a two-fold purpose: to broaden my knowledge-base for the sake of my clients and to stimulate my need to know everything health-related.
I specialize in Pain Management (of the mind, body, spirit, emotions) and often find myself working closely with people going through minor to major life-transitions. I also work with Addictions and Recovery but I can treat anything you can possibly think of. I see Hospice clients in their homes through SBCHOP and am a volunteer complementary therapist and patient caregiver through Hospice of Santa Barbara (a freely given, volunteer-based hospice). I like to think of my work as chakra balancing.
It's my policy to never tell anyone "I'm sorry but I can't help you" and I never turn anyone away. I'm willing to work with all financial situations and create empowering agreements with my clients so that we both feel like we're getting something valuable from our visits. My prices are reasonable because I'm a stand for affordable healthcare in Santa Barbara. I never want anyone to have to decide between eating and getting healthcare!! I love my job and I adore my clients.
I am currently serving as Chairman of the Board for Women of Wellness (W.O.W.): a non-profit organization serving Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties that takes a holistic approach to empowering underserved women to live life joyfully in healthy mind, body and spirit.
