Acupuncture? If you’d told my young adult self that I’d ever practice it as a profession, I’d have thought you’d lost your mind. Even though I grew up in a very health conscious home and couldn’t have agreed more with my mother’s and grandmother’s belief that healthy eating was the key to longevity and happiness, needles were just not my idea of something that could make you feel better.
But life has a way of changing one’s perspective. My passion for wellness took a wrong turn, and I began to struggle with disordered eating at the age of fifteen. It took ten difficult years—during which I tore down the majority of my support structure in rage and hurt—before I finally sought help.
I entered therapy. Part of the program entailed fifteen weeks in an intensive outpatient program. During that time, I participated in talk therapy and art therapy. And, I received acupuncture treatments. It was then that I began to get my life back on track.
Despite my initial skepticism, I found that acupuncture helped me to more deeply internalize the work I was doing in my other therapy programs. It provided me with a safe space to reconnect with my body in a way that no other therapy did. My appetite started to return, and slowly but surely, I began to feel a genuine sense of gratitude for the wonderful things my body was doing for me on a daily basis. Eating disorders put my body into a state of chaos; acupuncture helped bring peace and order to that chaos, giving me a place from which to grow.
These personal experiences led to my embracing a bottom-up philosophy of healing. They taught me that wellness is not something that happens overnight. In order for symptoms to be resolved, we must create a sturdy foundation to stand on that utilizes a variety of techniques.
As a healing professional, acupuncture offers me a beautiful way to support you in building your own foundation of healing. I provide acupuncture treatments that are tailored to your specific needs and unique story – your partner in healing, one step at a time.
I have a strong connection to the world around me, which I bring into my practice. I am acutely aware of how the seasons change and how the ecosystem here in the Upper Peninsula interacts with itself and with the people who inhabit it. I use the relationships I see around us everyday as an indicator of how the body functions and works together to create optimal health. This holistic method is based on the Taoist Five-Element model of healing. It not only addresses the key symptoms of dis-ease, but also takes your whole being into consideration.
While no modality is a “magic bullet,” acupuncture brings a balance to the body and mind that is sorely lacking in today’s modern world. It is for this reason that I prefer to work with patients over time. Whatever brought you here did not happen overnight. Acupuncture works gradually to gently restore vitality, health, and peace of mind without causing further shock to an already stressed system.
Whether you choose to receive treatments as a relaxing therapy on its own or as part of an integrated wellness protocol, this ancient practice can help you overcome and come to peace with your own struggles and challenges. Whether you are feeling strongly drawn to working with me or just are curious whether acupuncture could help you or a loved one, I invite you to contact me here to learn more.
In health, wellness, and harmony,
Carolyn Provencher, R.Ac
