SERVICES
The services we provide are the services you need.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"Treat the person, not the disease."
~Chinese medical proverb
CONSULTATION
“What brings you in?” This is my first question when sitting down with every patient on their first visit. Each of us has a story. Our stories are filled with physical experiences, emotional experiences and an ever changing spiritual orientation toward our life path. We are born with inherent characteristics, and our lives shape and alter the core of who we are. Getting a chance to listen to those stories, wherever they might go informs my intentions as a healer. Some stories are simple and some are complex, but they are all about a journey toward wellness that involves less suffering, more joy and a direct experience of fulfillment in life.
~Robert Angotti, Lic. Ac., Herbalist
EVALUATION
While the story provides an image of how we relate to our bodies and our lives, the body tells a story as well. In the old days monks practiced the healing arts and yet were not allowed to see the faces of, or speak with the women who consulted them for aid. They were only given both wrists to touch in order to palpate the radial pulse. Feeling the size, depth and character of the pulse painted a mental picture of the internal patterns of the body, informing treatment. Palpation of the pulses and the body grew to be powerful tools used to assess the complex balance of energies that contribute to discomfort and disease. Looking at the eyes, the tongue, the skin, the veins, this is all part of the evaluation. Hearing the voice, the digestive sounds, the breath, and even the rattling of the table paper patients lie upon will inform the practitioner. We use all senses to enhance our insight and diagnosis the patient.
~Robert Angotti, Lic. Ac., Herbalist
DIAGNOSIS
Unlike a western medical diagnosis, Chinese medicine does not diagnosis a disease. Instead we identify patterns of imbalance that lead to disease. The following phrase is fundamental to the true practice of Chinese medicine. “For each disease there are many patterns of imbalance, and for each pattern of imbalance many diseases. Therefore, treat the person and not the disease.”
This can be challenging but not because the methodology is flawed or difficult. In fact, western medicine is gradually discovering the wisdom of this practice. One size doesn’t fit all and there are a variety of shared patterns that require unique treatment methods for the same disease. May patients come to me fed up with being treated as a disease and not a person.
What really makes this part of my job challenging is the attempt to translate what I observe so that my patients can appreciate the plan of action. Chinese medical language is simple and unfulfilling in some ways, and archaic and mystical in others. It begs some translation and yet trying to rely on equivalent western physiology and pathology often comes up short. Sometimes Chinese medical diagnostics are describing the sum of multiple processes, and sometimes they are describing processes that are yet to be understood by western science. Although this is the hardest part of my job, explaining what I see, it is the most beautiful aspect of the vocation I have chosen. Chinese medicine has a poetic language, and deep insight for appreciating and explaining the complex harmonies integral to health and vitality.
~Robert Angotti, Lic. Ac., Herbalist
TREATMENT
“Nothing more, nothing less.”
This is guiding principle for me as a healer. It is much like the principle of Hipocrates, the famous greek physician who said “Do no harm.” Both phrases don’t say it directly, but they point to the inherent healing wisdom of the body. Our bodies know much more about health, healing and vitality than all the world’s physicians combined. We are all just doing our best to use that knowledge, or we should be.
When I use acupuncture or my hands on a patient, I encourage a healing response the body has developed over millions of years. The treatment makes a suggestion and the body does the rest. When I use herbs, I aim in a variety of ways to bring forth the wisdom of wellness that lies beneath. Sometimes that requires clearing away the excess, calming the fires, draining the dampness, or opening the channels. In the end, the body sets the course of balance and harmony.
The patient doesn’t get off the hook there however. We all return from periods of wellness to life choices of illness. We overwork, we strive for desires unfulfilling, we indulge, we experience the unexpected and the trying times. We avoid the things that are less pleasant and gravitate towards the pleasurable, but our bodies evolved in a world with less of the abundance that surrounds us now. Developing a life path of healthfulness is also part of the treatment.
~Robert Angotti, Lic. Ac., Herbalist
FEES
STANDARD TREATMENT
First Visit (Consultation and Treatment)- $91
First Weekly Follow Up Treatment- $59
Additional Weekly Follow Up Treatment- $39
Additional Services- $16 each
(Cupping, Massage, Heat Therapy, etc.)
Consultations for new ailments or after a long break in treatment – $16
HERBAL CONSULTATION ONLY
First Visit- $59
Weekly Follow Up- $39
