Amethyst Chiropractic & Amethyst Center

In 1999, I opened Amethyst Center in Somerville, Massachusetts.  We were a holistic center with eight treatment rooms which included chiropractic, massage therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, naturopathy, and energy therapies.  I referred my patients to the different health practitioners at Amethyst Center to achieve a more complete healing and recovery. 

Since 2005, Amethyst Center has hosted “Nourish Your Well Being” twice a year.  This was a fundraiser for The Somerville Homeless Coalition.  It consisted of a half day event where each practitioner would offer a mini-session of their work for a donation of $10 towards The Somerville Homeless Coalition.  It was very successful and a win-win event both for the practitioner and the client.  In 2011, Amethyst Center was given an award by The Somerville Homeless Coalition for our fund raising efforts for this important cause.  I left Amethyst Center in the capable hands of Dr. Helena Grant when I moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in June, 2012.   

Ayurvedic Medicine

I studied Ayurveda in 1990 for my own health issues.  I saw Dr. Vasant Lad three times and went to his clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  While studying Ayurveda, I was able to see why different patients had different ways of responding to chiropractic treatments because of their differing constitutions.  One patient would be easy to get in alignment but would have trouble staying in alignment.  Another patient would be difficult to get into alignment and would take a long time and many visits.  But once that patient was in alignment, I did not have to see them again.  Ayurveda helped me understand the different constitutions in a person and I use it to help my patients achieve alignment in their body.

Energy Therapies

I am a teacher of Awakening Your Light Body which is a system of activating different energy centers in the body to achieve an expanded consciousness.  I plan to teach this class while at Holistic Care Approach.  I am also a practitioner of Flow Alignment and Connection™, and Physical Atomic Cellular Evolution™ which are energy therapies. These are energy systems are similar to Reiki because the practitioner becomes a channel for the energy flowing through them into the client.   I often use these energy therapies during a treatment. 

I am also a certified Zero Balancing (ZB) practitioner which is a structural energy therapy.  Fritz Smith, D.O. was the founder of this system.  He developed this system while learning acupuncture.  He wanted to find some way to combine structural touch and energy to achieve harmony in the body.  I have a fondness for Fritz Smith because his father was also a chiropractor. (See the picture of Fritz and I holding hands during my certification ceremony.   We look awesome with the light streaming in!) Zero Balancing combines touch around different joints in the body along with an application of contraction and stretch to set up the opportunity for energy to move through the body.  While applying this touch, the practitioner must be at interface which allows their energy to be contained and gives safety to the patient and the patient’s energy to move.  Before I took ZB, I was essentially streaming my energy into patients’ bodies and going home exhausted.  ZB taught me how to contain my own energy and set up conditions for the patient to feel safe and to respond to treatment.  I will often use ZB during a treatment session.