Oakland, CA – How One Woman Overcame Lifelong Anxiety With Help from Acupuncture

Do you need an inspirational story about healing from anxiety? Let me introduce you to Raya.

Raya was 44 years old when I met her. She had experienced traumas throughout her life — from growing up in an unwelcoming household and community, to escaping home and fleeing into a period of drug abuse and self-harm, to winding up in an abusive marriage, to eventual sobriety in her mid 30s. By the time I met her, Raya had been in therapy for decades but was still crippled by anxiety.

Over the past ten years she had made huge strides in her life. Raya had found and married a wonderful and supportive man. She had pursued a new career that paid well and had opportunities for advancement. She had several dear friends who adored and supported her. However… it was not enough. The demons of her past continued to haunt her and she was constantly anxious. She lost sleep due to anxiety. She was anxious for entire Sundays before heading to work the next day. Her digestion went haywire due to the constant anxiety and she had gained unwanted weight.

Raya was referred to me by a close friend of hers, who told me: “I think you can help my friend. She’s really struggling with anxiety and she holds a lot of it in.”

Raya was brave enough to be very open about her past and her difficulties during our first appointment. We did acupuncture and I prescribed her some Chinese herbal medicine that would help rebalance her body and calm her nervous system. Shockingly, even after the first week her symptoms were markedly better. She was already sleeping better, and her anxiety before work dropped from a full day to just a few hours of fretting. After a few more sessions she felt like the result was night-and-day from where we had started. She still struggled with anxious thoughts and flashbacks from traumas in her past. However, her daily life was dramatically improved and she finally felt like there was hope that she could create a life that felt good for her.

We are continuing to work together and I am in awe of the personal work Raya has put in to help herself heal. All of the work she has done with therapists over the years laid the foundation for a really rapid change once she pursued a more physical approach such as acupuncture and herbal therapy.

Are you wondering whether acupuncture might be right for you? Call me to discuss whether we can help you heal from a difficult past. I look forward to hearing from you.