Denise Wiesner, L.Ac., FABORM, is the Founder of Natural Healing & Acupuncture in Los Angeles, California. Denise and her team have provided services including acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition and massage for almost 25 years. In addition to her expertise in women’s health, she also addresss patients for anxiety and depression, pain relief, cancer support, weight loss and many other concerns. Denise studied with Giovanni Maciocia when he taught in Santa Barbara and we were excited to catch up with her.
What inspired you to become an acupuncturist?
I was having digestive problems and my doctor told me to just take fiber. I thought that was strange and so I started seeing an acupuncture doctor. She changed my life.
What do you love most about being an acupuncturist? Why?
I love the field of Chinese Medicine because it is a body/mind/spirit medicine. I like the fact that there are minimal side effects to my treatments and maximum benefits. I feel in today’s landscape of medicine that western medicine practitioners don’t have a lot of time to spend with patients and sometimes they overlook presenting factors that are important. As a Chinese Medicine doctor, I am able to give my patients great alternatives to western care as well as work with western doctors.
What are some of your most memorable experiences where acupuncture made a significant difference in the life of your patient(s)?
Since I work a lot with fertility and women’s health, I get to see patients that have gone through many rounds of infertility treatments that fail. I recently had a 43 year old patient that genetically tested her embryos in 3 rounds of IVF with no viable embryos. She was able to conceive naturally with help from acupuncture and herbs.
“I believe that optimum health is about balance: balancing one’s life and balancing one’s body. I enjoy assisting individuals in finding that balance and achieving great health.”
What do you find most challenging about TCM?
I think that communicating how acupuncture works to MD’s is challenging. I also address the side effects of cancer and find that Oncologists don’t usually want me to give supplements and herbs to patients. They don’t have knowledge of them and have a belief that they will interfere with the patient’s treatment.
What do you find most rewarding about working in TCM?
Seeing the amazing results patients have with Chinese Medicine.
How often do you incorporate Chinese herbal formulae into a patient’s plan?
Probably 95% of the time!
“I love the women’s treasures line because the formulas are effective and based on a combination of classical formulas put together.”
Which Chinese herbal formulae do you recommend the most?
I like to write custom formulas if I can but sometimes patients don’t like the taste. I have a lot of patients who have abnormal bleeding, endometriosis, PCOS, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea and in terms of the Su Wen Herbs® line, I think the stop bleeding herbal formulas are excellent! I use all of the stop bleeding formulas based on the patient’s presentation: Restrain the Flow, Clear Empty-Heat & Cool the Menses, Cool the Menses, Invigorate Blood & Stem the Flow. I love the Women’s Treasure line because the formulas are effective and based on a combination of classical formulas put together.
How do you feel the herbs enhance treatment?
The field of gynecology in China is about herbal medicine so in that regard, I feel the herbs are super important.
What is one of your main professional passions?
One of my passions is to educate on the topic of sexuality and fertility. I feel that most women and men carry a lot of shame around sexuality. Patients come to me with problems with sexual dysfunction such as vulvodynia, ED, vaginismus or problems in their relationship around sexuality and timing. I wrote a book called, “Conceiving With Love” to help couples navigate baby making and intimacy. It uses concepts from Eastern Traditions and is full of exercises for individuals and couples to do.
What is a misconception that you would like to set straight about TCM and acupuncture?
One misconception about acupuncture is that it is painful. Many patients confuse the sensation they feel with western shots and blood draws with what they expect with acupuncture – the two are vastly different. As far as Herbal medicine goes, some people are afraid that the herbs are not safe. The brands I use are usually highly tested for heavy metals, additives and are GMP certified.
Share a quote / words of wisdom / mantra that you live by.
One of my teachers, Ram Dass, taught a meditation that he called, “ Loving Awareness”. The mantra is about living in a space of Love by saying, “ I am loving awareness.” I think this sums up the key to living – to be in the LOVE space, in our hearts.
What are some of your proudest accomplishments?
- My book, Conceiving with Love
- My Clinic, Natural Healing & Acupuncture
- Teaching in the doctorate program at YoSan
- My two beautiful children, Noah and Ethan
Keep up with Denise:
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You can contact Denise via email: Denise@naturalhealingacupuncture.com