4 year already

Well today is the day! 4 years ago today I took my first FULL paying acupuncture client: at woodland Herbs.  Back in the days when I worked full time in a call centre and just 3 hours a week at Woodland Herbs.

That 1st client was a gentleman with depression, didnt see him for as long as i'd have liked, but managed to help lift him at least a little - based on subsequent feedback.

Now 4, incredibly quick, years later I have worked with it must be at least a few hundred people, from all walks of life, builders, postmen, lawyers, medics (in many guises), journalists, lecturers and many many forms of office based mon to fri 9 to 5 workers.  Working with MANY conditions: ME, fertility, period problems, pain in so many places I cant keep track, lots of emotional stuff. e.g depression, anxiety and of course good old faithful stress and even helped someone through a break up of a relationship.

A few of the cases have had such good results its been a surprise to even me including 'agonising pain' in the ankle that all but disappeared after just one session, a girl with abdominal pain that was making her feel suicidal who'd had medical intervention for over 6 years to no avail, and within just one session felt better, and now (after many sessions) just pops in on occasion essentially for a 'top up', so many pregnancies that i've supported the parents through and a delightful man with bipolar who suffers badly with anxiety.

I've also supported people with long term problems, seeing them as and when needed to just keep them topped up, M.E.being one of the biggies in that field.

Four years in and I love what I do more than ever before! I have grown so much in that time, learning daily from the all the people that walk through my door, learning how to be a better person & therapist with my interactions, not to mention improving my skills as a therapist with lots of research, and clients who  willing to be guineapigs for me and who's opinions I value when im tweaking my treatments.

I still can't believe that in just 4 years I have gone from working part time - only 3 hours a week to the 39(ish) i now do, splitting my time between two very different clinics run by two very different people, and providing me with different types of people to work with.

As an acupuncturist working in her home town of Glasgow I am delighted to share my skills and experience with everyone I meet, and as many of my friends will attest I'm sure, acupuncture for me is not just a job, its a way of life!  I'm quite sure they  are sick of me saying 'in TCM terms...'

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my friends family and clients who have supported me in this challenging, yet incredibly rewarding, 4 years! Looking forward to the next 40!!!

Why I am an acupuncturist

As an acupuncturist one of the most common questions I am asked is why i do it.

I have a bit of an interesting route into it, as do most acupuncturists I know and have worked along side.

I started out doing a degree in Psychology, realising before I graduated that it wasn't for me, I did want to 'help people' but psychology just didnt cut it for me.

Upon graduating I wandered around the globe a bit, ending up in South Korea teaching English as a second language.  The town I lived in was a relatively small one, and if one ever saw a white person one said hi! I did such a thing whilst sitting in a internet cafe catching up with mates! Got chatting to a lady who told me about this yoga type class she went to most nights.. I was intreged, and a few days later was introduced to one of the most influential couples I have ever had the privaledge to meet.  I soon became a regular - going to class up to 5 times a week, it wasnt quite yoga, and to this day I still don't know what it was called, what I know is that the regular movements were having a positive influence on my life.

Anyway, not too long after that I was persuaded to try having a massage with the Wangjang Neem, a very intuitive therapist who spent up to 90 mins working solely on my abdomen.  I then saw his wife Bo Wangjang Neem, who gave me healing in the form of energy work as well as massage.  A few months later, I managed to burn myself and the Wangjang Neem offered to experiement with his new therapy.. Acupuncture.. and from that day I was hooked!! but hadn't yet considered it a career option.

By Feb 2003 (i had been in Korea for 8 months) I had a new flatmate, Suzanne, who was a reiki master and also practiced yoga on a daily basis, having spent a lot of time in India & Thailand, she introduced me to the idea of therapy as a profession.

By the end of May i was coming to the end of my time in Korea and considering what to do next, on a PURE WHIM, decided to look at how to become an acupuncturist... and quickly realised this was meant for me.. my dad has just moved to Manchester.. and guess where I could study?

I am soo very grateful to my time in Korea, it completely opened my eyes to a new system, a new way of looking at the world, I loved the gentleness of the people, their kindness & respect for others as well as a whole new way of eating...

Food in KOrea is hugely important, and everyone knows the importance of food for healing and maintenance, and changes their diet dependant on weather, lifestyle etc, I found it fascinating that they considered eating Chicken and Ginseng to keep them strong through the hot/humid summers, certainly within my family, food was not there to nurture.

Anyway, by the time I got back to the UK I applied to the University of Salford, but had a year to kill until starting the degree, so decided to do a 'wee massage course' to get me back into studying and to begin to learn about the body.... and it just so happened I loved it.

Soon as I finished my degree (2007)I returned to Glasgow, and found Woodland Herbs, and also now The Bothwell Clinic, I am rapidly approaching my 5th year as an acupuncturist and massage therapist in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, and I can honestly say that I still adore it.. on a daily basis I learn something new as well as help people to rediscover their health!

I am forever grateful to that chance meeting with Pat in a internet cafe that started me on this path to finding my vocation.. and hope that I can share my passion for health and especially for acupuncture with everyone so they can too benefit and lead a more fulfilling life, free of what ails them!