Get to know your local Brookvale Acupuncturist better

Besides the usual Acupuncture FAQ's, finding the right fit when you're looking for a local practitioner is important. Here's a bit more about my background that clients often ask.

Have you been to China? How did that shape your practice?

Yes -- It blew my mind and opened my eyes big time.

To go to the source of something you’ve learned is really special. To be immersed in the culture, hear the language and how it’s used in a clinical context, see much older acupuncture doctors in their 60’s or 70’s still practicing inspired me a lot.

We had translators to help us communicate with the doctors in the hospital, and although you might think you don’t have much in common with them, you have the common language and understanding of TCM to communicate through.

Can you believe it? In China, Acupuncture and Chinese herbs is integrated into the hospital system. Just to see how both medicines can work together for patient care in one system was impressive. It's closer than we think it is. There are advantages to using both in an integrated way.

That TCM and Acupuncture are normalised in China as their original medicine and a part of their everyday lives was great to see - people turned up for regular appointments several times a week, took their herbs, even small children took their herbs! In broader society, outdoor parks and spaces were full of people of all ages exercising, doing tai chi, using public exercise equipment.

I think the China experience set a firecracker underneath me to deliver integrated care to my patients. The desire to normalise acupuncture and show them that Acupuncture has a scientific evidence base that improves quality of life for people.

How has Acupuncture helped you personally?

From a women’s health point of view, I have received Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs on and off since I started my degree in 1999. As a student it was part of UTS’s Chinese Medicine faculty’s culture to participate in the student clinics, not just as a student practitioner, but also a patient.

To this day, I use Chinese Herbs as my go to for period pain, sleep and stress relief. I used Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture for fertility support for my pregnancies, without question. The stress I found trying to conceive and trying to understand why it wasn’t happening was supported by TCM and Acupuncture.

I used Acupuncture in the lead up to the births and was very fortunate to have natural deliveries. Now moving into Perimenopause, guess what? I use my acupuncture to help with mood support and stress relief and herbs for Peri symptoms such as poor sleep. I guess, Once you study TCM and it becomes part of your lifestyle, you use it— it becomes second nature.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about your approach to treating patients?

That I’m degree qualified and dedicated 4 years of study and over 20 years of practice to master one modality. By making that choice to go specific and niched, I don’t string people along if they’re not getting the result they asked for. I think there’s a lot of people “adding” tools and services to their original qualification and I feel it dilutes and confuses the strength of their work, not to mention the public.

I've deliberately chosen to dedicate my career to mastering acupuncture and TCM, rather than continually "adding to it". I believe depth of expertise allows me to provide focused, evidence-informed care while working collaboratively with other healthcare professionals when appropriate.

To me the whole point of treatment is to gain progress and create change, no matter what the modality. Review of treatment is such an IMPORTANT part of being authentic and honest with your clients. I don’t claim to be able to fix everything, but I’ll be honest and upfront about what I can and can’t do. Feedback from the client is what guides treatment strategy and makes it all come together for REAL progress.

Why have you stayed in the profession so long?

It never gets boring or dull! I don’t know what’s going to come in the door whether it’s a new patient or a regular client. They may have had their best day or their worst day. Meeting people where they’re at on the day is one of the things that is constantly in the back of my mind when I see someone. The job has taught me to be empathetic, compassionate, non-judgemental to a person’s experience. I’ve learned to be flexible, make quick clinical decisions and trust my clinical judgement. TCM itself, is dynamic and adaptable, which means it encourages you to also think laterally. The foundation underpinning all of my work is my appreciation and awe for TCM and it’s perspective on the human body. It’s exciting to work with the body and the brilliance of the brain and nervous system and watch change happen. It’s the clients that bring TCM to life. The transformations and breakthroughs clients have is rewarding in that it brings TCM to life in colour and symphony. I love my work!