I have practiced acupuncture and 
traditional Asian medicine in the Pioneer Valley area of western Massachusetts for more than three decades, treating a wide range of chronic health disorders, with a sub-specialty in sports medicine and the treatment of chronic pain.
People often ask me how I got started practicing acupuncture and Chinese medicine. There were several routes “in”: an early interest in “alternative” medicine, that first acupressure point someone taught me that cured sore throats in a flash (Spleen 2, good to know—move your fingers around the area until you find the sharpest pain upon pressure and massage till the pain is gone), and getting my first acupressure treatment in the early 1980s.
I received my acupuncture diploma in 1986 from the New England School of Acupuncture in Watertown, MA (now part of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Worcester). I am licensed to practice acupuncture by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine and board-certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM).
In the early 1990s, several colleagues and I organized and staffed the first acupuncture-detoxification clinic for alcoholics and drug addicts in western Massachusetts, at Gandara Center in Springfield. More recently I started and now staff an acupuncture clinic at a federally-qualified community health center in central Massachusetts. I have also lectured and taught extensively on the subject of Chinese medicine.
I have additional training and certification (when available) in acupressure (see above), Chinese herbal medicine, pediatric medical massage (pediatric tuina), AcuQuitSM for smoking cessation, Toyo Hari Japanese-acupuncture techniques, hands-on energy healing techniques of Reiki (Level 2 certification) and Reconnective Healing (Level 3 certification), acupuncture facial rejuvenation, and Acutonics® (the use of tuning forks on acupuncture points). I have worked closely with the sports-medicine departments at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as maintaining my private practice in Amherst.
Originally from Miami, Florida, I graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in economics. After early work as a community organizer, I began my acupressure and then acupuncture study beginning in the early 1980’s. I am a retired call firefighter, the parent of a college student (who enjoyed much acupuncture and acupressure growing up!), and an advocate for single-payer healthcare reform and civic engagement. In my spare time, I enjoy running, biking, hiking, writing, and gardening as well as practicing yoga, Dragon and Tiger qigong, and Wu-style t’ai chi.
Serving Amherst, Northampton, western MA, and the Pioneer Valley since 1986