Sacred Dream Alchemy

When someone comes to see me in my private practice (physical or virtual), we start with an initial consult of 90 – 120 minutes, in which we will discuss the current situation you are dealing with. We will talk about the main symptoms of your “chief complaint” (i.e. what you came to me for in the first place!) and what you are doing about it; that means we will go over current medications, supplements, and other things you might be doing to address your chief complaint.  We’ll also look into your medical history, including taking a “deeper dive” into the past (e.g. surgeries, past antibiotic use, traumas—both physical and emotional, etc.).

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After discussing medical history, we then have a rather broad ranging conversation about daily life, health, and habits directed toward determining your particular pattern of imbalances. This is at the heart of what the practice of Chinese Medicine is all about. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory assumes that a body in balance (not too hot, not too cold; not to damp, not too dry) is relatively healthy. So therefore an unhealthy body must be out of balance in some way (which is why we see symptoms). We talk together about these symptoms, and through these conversations I get a progressively more nuanced understanding of these underlying patterns.

 

So in this broad-ranging conversation, for example, I might ask for specific details about sleep patterns: do you fall asleep easily but wake up at the same time almost every night?... do you have night sweats?... how many times a night do you wake up to urinate?... are your dreams vivid to the point that sleep is not restful?, etc… We would then cover other relevant areas of life (for example: food choices and intake, stress levels, menses/gynecological concerns, stool, urination, digestion, etc…), and the whole time I would be thinking about this information as “symptoms” and figuring out how these “symptoms” fit into/suggest specific patterns of imbalance. These patterns constitute the TCM diagnosis and are the basis on which we choose a starting formula or two.

 

There is one other thing that is important to note here: In the practice of Chinese Medicine there is not a separation of the body and the mind/emotions. A simple, relatable example of this is how long-term stress (e.g. a terrible boss/work situation or an on-going marital quarrel) can lead to digestive difficulties. In this case you’re not nauseous and have loose stools because of a virus but rather because of an emotional disturbance has thrown the body the out of balance. This emotional upset itself has caused “symptoms” of an illness. This is why the initial consult takes so long—because digging this emotional stuff out into the open makes the practice of Chinese Medicine much more effective… Other emotional factors worth mentioning in a consult include things like death of a loved one, major life changes, things you worry about, things that make you angry, people and situations that trigger you, etc…

 

The point here is that you are encouraged to talk with me about things that may not seem to have anything to do with the physical symptoms as they are being expressed in your body (that you have come here to resolve). It’s all relevant, and my job is to sort through the information given and guide our conversation toward things that are relevant to the practice of TCM and the determination of your particular pattern of imbalances.

 

 

Ongoing Relationship

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After the initial, in-depth consult, the client and I maintain a relationship that depends on the client’s needs. Often what happens is that after taking herbs for a while, the initial pattern of imbalances will evolve into something else, necessitating a change in formulas… or occasionally certain herbs just don’t go well with an individual (too hard to digest, too heating, etc…) and so again the formula would need some tweaking... and occasionally the formulas don’t seem to be doing anything at all, and when that happens we would go back into the history and habits conversations and figure out why. If things aren't working, we will look together for the causes. Often what happens with herbs is that taking them shows me/us what is really going on in the body. Eventually, we will both become very attuned to how your system works. I will encourage you to learn how to take care of yourself intuitively, both through herbs and other lifestyle changes to help you learn how to maintain and re-establish balance. My main goal is to empower you to be your own healer, and I will be there with you every step of the way.