FAQ

1. Why do I use Acu-psychiatry?

Do you or someone close to you have a stubborn emotional or pain condition?  If yes, then  you already know it takes more than pills to feel better and stay productive.  That was my experience with chronic pain (See: About Me).

Most medications are meant to control symptoms, not illnesses.  Some symptom control is needed for healing to happen. But that may not be enough if you already have compromised health, are living in stressful circumstances, have genetic predispositions toward certain diseases.  When an illness goes on for more than several months, the body adapts by changing how it responds to the internal and external environment. The energy fields become unbalanced (according to Chinese Medicine).  My impression is that it is difficult to sustain an improvement in either “body” or “mind” without addressing the other and the unbalanced energy fields.

2. How can Acu-Psychiatry be effective when other approaches haven’t worked? 

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees about any treatments including mine.  I believe we are too complex to be able to predict how any individual will respond to something with any certainty.

That said, Acu-Psychiatry attempts to address different aspects in which illnesses surface.  Also, the more a patient can participate in a treatment, the more impact it may have.  For example, I frequently ask people to do home treatments that reinforce the balance achieved in the office. The mind/body needs a lot of reminding to change its baseline behavior.  Unlike Western medicine that can be convenient, this approach demands “work” on the part of the patient. The more input you are able to give your  mind/body,  the more likely you may shift your baseline functioning habits.

Repair, evolution and growth are not asking too much for and from yourself.   How can I believe this, given the the untreatable illnesses so many live with?

Because:  We are already designed for these positive processes.  We are self-healing creatures.   As children, most of us accepted this without question.  We observed this miracle many times, such as scabs falling off bruised skin. We naturally grow to adulthood.  No one told us how to make puberty happen.  We, including our unconscious and supraconscious,  already “knew” what to do.  Most people  evolve to a more mature view of themselves without ever consulting a professional.  This “It” happens just as life does. But as adults, we loose can faith in ourselves and life.  Many who have been injured have trouble even imagining they ever had  that potential, and still have it now.    

Acu-Psychiatry is about stimulating your healing intent, and most importantly your conviction that you deserve to heal.  Intention is the core of all effective treatments, in my opinion.   While this may sound simple, it isn’t.  Most people who seek out a professional are blocked in fully using it.   

3. What is an Acu-psychiatry treatment like?

Acu-Psychiatry integrates emotional, physical and sometimes spiritual issues that surface when someone is ill. What I do has evolved over years of study, treatment of others,  self-treatment, and treatment from others for my own pain issues.  This will probably be different from what another psychiatrist/acupuncturist or another acupuncturist does, but all will be within the bounds of accepted practice.

There are no standard protocols, based on what’s considered “wrong,” because people are not standard.  For example, I don’t have one back pain treatment for everyone.  A woman who was sexually abused as a child will have a different back pain and back pain treatment from a depressed man who is recovering from a “failed” surgery.  I, or more accurately, we together individualize what we do each visit, based on the issues you present.  Sometimes we may be talking, like you might do at other mental health appointments.  Other visits we will focus on office treatments with less talking   Or, I may see you with your spouse or other family members.  

(Please see Published Articles for more details.)

4. What kind of medications do I prescribe?

I prescribe psychiatric, pain, and others related to emotional and pain disorders. I also prescribe addiction-treatment medications, such as suboxone.  In my opinion, there is no emotional or physical benefit to being in pain.  But pain medication, alone, is not sufficiently effective and the more one uses it, the less effective it becomes.

5. Won’t medication take away the feelings I need to feel?

Medications are not that powerful to eliminate  pain or emotional disorders.  They block the physical and emotional upset enough so that someone can function. However, if you are opposed to medications, you are not obliged to take them.  This is your choice.  In rare circumstances, I may believe I can’t treat you effectively without them. If that happens I will refer you elsewhere for treatment. 

6. Why Do I do the psychotherapy?

Many professionals (in addition to myself), believe our emotions shape our  body as much as the health of our body influences our feelings of well-being. For example, most people have come to associate a hunched posture (neck and shoulder stiffness and pain)  with certain feelings (anxiety, anger, etc.) and certain thoughts (I am going to fail, Someone is going to  humiliate me, etc.)  Ultimately, we need to change our thoughts, at a feeling level, to heal our bodies.  Our minds are THAT powerful. That’s why we talk.