I grew up in a small New England town.

 

My family trekked to the local Unitarian Universalist church with a love for singing, an intellectual fervor for ethics, and a solid commitment that many paths lead to the Divine. The liberal arts college I attended focused on the interconnectedness and common ground among disciplines, and although my undergraduate and first masters degree are both in studio art, Chinese language, Eastern philosophy, and martial arts training all pulled at me in unexpected ways during those years.

​

I found Qigong and Feng Shui by happy accident when a friend signed us up for 'yoga' in a studio owned by a Daoist priest. At the time I was also practicing peer counseling focused on anti-racism and social justice work. From these two paths I began unwinding the homophobia, sex and body-shaming from my youth.

 

At a crossroads with my career in art and teaching, I met with a skilled psychic. She saw me surrounded by thin, silver, falling objects pilling up by the thousands without harm. She told me the spirits were calling them 'needles,' but they were not like any needle she'd ever seen. If I ever found 'those needles' she said, I would have found my Destiny.

​

As my passion for Feng Shui and Qigong grew, I wanted to learn more about the other branches of Chinese Medicine (acupuncture & moxa / heat, herbs & nutrition, bodywork & physical manipulations). My master of acupuncture program in Tucson incorporated year-long studies in Medical Qigong (healing others), self-cultivation Qigong, Tuina, Japanese acupuncture, and Worsley 5 Element theory. Covering the breadth of East Asian Medicine in general rather than focusing heavily in Traditional, Classical, or Five Element forms was unique; the school also had a strong relationship with Andrew Weil’s Integrative Medicine program, and the ‘defining principles' of his program are a good basis for how I still think about medicine.
 

It was a Zen Priest that confirmed my Feng Shui Mastery in 2004, the same year I began teaching Qigong. My Qigong Mastery was confirmed in 2012 when my final teacher asked why I wasn't listening to my students; they'd been calling me Master since 2010. He asked me one simple question: "Did you not train them well enough to see?" This remains a permanent reminder in my psyche that we are all simultaneously both students and teachers, both healers and wounded, both perfect and messy. 

​

I am a specialist in the impact of emotional trauma, with my own published framework for recognizing and unwinding trauma from the body. This expertise, combined with a special interest in helping my LBGTQ+ community, led to my first book, Gender and Sexuality in Chinese Medicine (Singing Dragon, 2020), an empowering and gender fluid / non-binary take on all aspects of sexuality, relationships, and the emotional consequences of oppression. In 2021 I completed my Doctor of Acupuncture in Integrative Medicine through Five Branches University, focused on 'bridging the gap' between eastern and western thinking in healthcare. In 2024, Ethics for Acupuncturists was released, in which I am a contributing author.

​

I maintain a small private practice in rural Vermont on the eastern slope of the Green Mountains. I also mentor colleagues and students internationally, and am blessed to do all my work from the comfort of my home, with slippers on my feet and a dog snoozing next to me.

 

Qigong remains my foundational root, as evidenced in my teaching, my treatments, my writing, and in how I live my every day life. But every time I open a package of acupuncture needles, I remember my psychic's words, and am grateful to have found my Destiny.

 

Thank you for visiting.

- Captaine

​