From Jen:     I'm a New Orleans native who graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1990.  I decided to become an acupuncturist after I had an acupuncturist use acupuncture and herbal medicine to fix multiple health problems I had.  A born skeptic, when I saw that lab results were changing just from using acupuncture and herbal medicine, I was sold.  I sold my house and moved to Austin to attend 4 years of AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine.

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As to why I do what I do, simply put, it is because I want to help prevent people from feeling despair.  My experience in practice before creating San Antonio Hospice Acupuncture was a general practice as well as Facial Rejuvenation specialization.  I was contacted by a lovely family asking me if I made house calls because the matriarch of the family was at the final stages of life and couldn't come to my clinic.  I was lucky enough to get to treat her twice and her husband and daughters, who were with her constantly, said she was so much calmer and they hadn't seen her sleep so peacefully in quite some time. 

 

Seeing the deep love her husband and children had for her, and hearing that acupuncture had made a difference not only to her but to them really moved me.  It was a profound change to treat someone palliatively instead of trying to cure.  Time passed but that experience stayed with me and I began pursuing knowledge about hospice acupuncture.  Torii Black, RN, LAc. had worked as a hospice nurse and had become an acupuncturist.  She founded the National Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Acupuncture.  I am currently working on their certification program to enrich my skills, and here I am to offer help to you and your loved ones.

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My mission is to serve God by helping those facing end of life issues to enjoy their remaining time feeling more alert and calm, settling their spirits so that they may make peace with end of life, and offering simple calming treatments to their caregivers all at as low a cost as possible.

 

 

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Education:

• B.A. in English from Louisiana State University.

• Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine in Austin.  This curriculum lasts 4 years (2,898 hours), incorporates courses in Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacology, Biomedical Treatment of Disease, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbology, Qigong, Taiji (Tai Chi), Asian Bodywork, and Foundations of Chinese Medicine, as well as includes 1,000 hours of supervised clinical practice. 

• Clinic rotations at Seton Topfer Clinic in Austin, TX, Seton McCarthy Community Health Center, People's Community Clinic, and Austin Pain Associates.

• Mei Zen Acupuncture protocol training by Martha Lucas, PhD  for face, neck and abdominal protocol.  See Mei Zen results here.

• Scalp Acupuncture training with Xiaotian Shen.

• Pulse Diagnostics and herbal prescriptions with Michael Peluso (Bob Doane Method)

• Treatment of Fibromyalgia Training with Drs. Andrew Miles, Xuelan Xiu, and Thomas Whalen, M.D.

• Motor Point Acupuncture training seminar with Richard Hazel and Dan Dominguez

• ExStore Method with Anthony Lombardi, D.C.

• ElectroAcupuncture with Dr. Jeremy Steiner

• Facial Rejuvenation with Virginia Doran

• Facial Rejuvenation with Dr. Ping Zhang, including White Jade Gua Sha protocol

• Facial Cupping and DermaRoller training with Dr. Michelle Gellis

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Qualifications:  

 

• Texas Medical Board: Licensed Acupuncturist (Licensed from 2015-2017, approved for license as of 1/30/2020 but temporary license is in effect.

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• Louisiana State Medical Board of Medical Examiners: Licensed Acupuncturist

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• Board Certified Diplomate of Oriental Medicine by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)®.  This includes 4 separate Board Certifications, to include:

  • Acupuncture

  • Chinese Herbology

  • Biomedicine

  • Foundations of Chinese Medicine ​

 

• Certified in Clean Needle Technique by the Council of Colleges of  Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

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For more information about the value of seeing an NCCAOM® Board-Certified acupuncturist, please click here.