Biography

Sarah began her studies in traditional Chinese medicine in 1974, and graduated from California Acupuncture College in 1978. She also attended the Santa Fe College of Natural Medicine, the New England School of Acupuncture, and eventually obtained a masters degree in oriental medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College.

In 1980, Sarah spent a year in rural parts of Mexico and Guatemala, working in villages to help the local population who had very little access to health care. She worked in a rural hospital for several months, assisting the attending physician, which included performing acupuncture anesthesia for some surgical cases.

In 1981 Sarah worked in a methadone clinic, in the acupuncture detox program through the university of New Mexico, assisting addicts with heroin withdrawals, and to gradually reduce their methadone dosages.

From 1982 –1993, Sarah was in private practice in Santa Fe, N.M. During those nine years, she also served as the head of the acupuncture department and a primary faculty member at Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, as well as holding a position on the Board of Directors. She was an examiner for state licensure in New Mexico and also headed a state funded acupuncture program for the treatment of substance abuse for the Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico.

In 1990, she escorted a group of students on a month long intensive Chinese medical program in Beijing, where she observed the integration of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine in hospital environments.

Before moving to Hawaii, Sarah spent a year in Michigan working with osteopaths in a practice specializing in chronic pain and severe cases of TMJ syndrome.

Throughout her career, Sarah has attended many workshops and training seminars in a variety of healing modalities. In 1983, she attended training to become a certified emergency medical technician. She began her studies in craniosacral therapy in 1986, and eventually studied the Upledger cranial system in 1993, which she often integrates with acupuncture treatment.

Sarah attended courses for one year in transformational counseling at the Southwest College of Life Sciences, and attended workshops in body oriented psychotherapy, particularly the Hakomi method.

She has also taken seminars in various forms of body work, meditation, Qi Gong, western and Chinese herbology, as well as Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine. In 1975 she lived for 6 weeks with Taoist Master Ni Hua Ching, author of many Taoist texts, along with several other students.

Since 1994 Sarah has been in private practice in Hawaii. She also teaches at the Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii, where she currently serves on the academic leadership team and as assistant academic dean.