Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) represents one of humanity’s richest uninterrupted streams of traditional knowledge. It is a highly sophisticated clinical system that offers a real alternative for the serious health care needs of our time.  Classical Chinese Medicine is rooted in an ancient tradition that has evolved over the past two thousand years, whereas Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was created in the mid-20th century in China. TCM has standardized therapies based on symptoms, which is beneficial for doing studies that show efficacy. However, Classical Chinese Medicine is much more useful in clinical practice since it respects the complex, individualized nature of each patient and seeks to identify the root cause of symptoms.  Classical Chinese Medicine sees the body and mind as a fluid, ever-changing system with all its parts connected to one another. Although Americans generally perceive Chinese medicine as simply acupuncture, Classical Chinese Medicine uses a variety of modalities to treat patients; including the applications of Acupuncture, Qigong therapies, Asian Bodywork and Manual therapies (such as cupping, gua sha, and moxibustion), Chinese Herbology, plus Chinese Nutrition and Lifestyle counseling. The primary distinguishing feature of Classical Chinese Medicine is its way of thinking—why and when and how does one chose to apply a therapeutic modality, rather than insisting that the use of acupuncture alone defines a practitioner of the classical art of Chinese medicine.  

Chinese medicine is a complete system of medicine with its own forms of diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and therapies.  Classical Chinese Medicine embraces the ancient spirit of utilizing time-honored modes of holistic thought in an ever changing space-time environment; thus honoring the whole person, their movement through life, and their connection with the greater evolution of all life.